Our Voice

     According to The National Domestic Violence Hotline Web site, 4 million American women experience a serious assault by a partner during an average 12-month period.
     So, you may be thinking, this doesn’t apply to me; I’d never put up with a man putting his hands on me, or I’m a guy, so I won’t be abused.
     It’s an easy trap to fall into, the “it won’t happen to me” mentality. 
     But get this, according to the same site, one in three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime, and women of all races and ethnicities are equally vulnerable. If you are a man, you’re probably correct in assuming that you won’t be beaten since the overwhelming majority of abuse occurs from men to women.  Of course, there are always cases of men being abused, but they aren’t nearly as common, and seldom end as tragically.
     None of these terrible things are going to happen to you though.  Are they?  Do you want to roll the dice of chance and find out, or do you want to stop the problem before it hits close to home?
     Now, you may be thinking, what can I, only one little person, do to help? There are plenty of ways to do your part in ending domestic violence.
     Last week in The Colonnade’s own Bobcat Beat, the question was “If you saw a man violently hit a woman, what would you do?”  The results were staggering.
     The majority of the responses said they would do nothing. Sure, some said they would take a picture or call friends for help, but nobody said they would jump in and try to stop the fight directly.
     We’re not saying go out and fight the abuser, but the least you can do is call the police, even if you do so away from the scene.
     Also, if a woman is brave enough to share her story with you, believe her. We know, it may sound like something from a really bad movie, but people don’t usually make things like that up.  If you can, put her in contact with someone who can help. The number to the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233.
     Since October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, there are several organizations doing things to combat this epidemic.
     From Oct. 29 through Nov. 2, the Women’s Resource Center will be hosting its fifth annual Clothesline Project, which displays homemade t-shirts on front campus.  All these shirts are made by abuse victims or for those victims, and convey messages pleading for the world to step in on the behalf of the abused.
     So, here’s a challenge to our readers:
     Women, go out there and make a shirt for you, someone you know who has been abused or for the woman who is being battered and can’t speak out for herself.
     Men, take part in The White Ribbon Campaign sponsored by Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. and take a vow to never use violence in your own life.

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Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 18 2007. Filed under Opinion, Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry