Bluffton’s Women’s Circle hosted a Thursday Night Spotlight March 1 that explored domestic violence and gave students a forum for discussing what can be a troubling topic.
In November, Bluffton sent four students to an escalation training. This training was created to help students recognize the signs of domestic abuse and to be able to get involved.
These four students consisted of three seniors and one junior. Ally Hammond, Liz Weaver, Olivia DePalma and Liandrin Thomas spent a day observing and learning about different types of domestic abuse along with various ways to intervene and get help for those involved.
The Thursday Night Spotlight consisted of a short film and time for discussion. The film took you through the very fast-paced relationship of two young college freshmen. Each event that unfolded showed signs of domestic violence and different kinds of abuse. This film was based off of the short life of Yeardley Love.
Love was a victim of domestic abuse during her college time. She was murdered by her boyfriend in 2010; she was 22 years old. She played collegiate lacrosse at The University of Virginia. She suffered a traumatic brain injury after being abused by her ex-boyfriend.
Campus Counselor Rae Staton and Crime Victim Services Representative Nicole Fairburn were at thee event to discuss abusive relationships with students in attendance.
“The discussion helps people understand the severity of abusive relationships,” said Thomas. “Discussing helps people understand what they watched and why it was a problem.”
The training that Bluffton’s four representatives attended gave them materials to be able to educate the campus community on ways to intervene when witnessing domestic violence.
Escalation training allows the trainees to educate others on helpful ways to spot the signs of domestic violence. Some of these signs include isolation, blaming, emotional abuse, intimidation, coercion and threats. These are only a handful on the lengthy list of warning signs that someone is being abused.
April is domestic violence awareness month. Bluffton’s Women’s Circle held this event with the hopes that students on campus will feel more comfortable reporting the signs of domestic violence.
Both women and men can be victims of domestic violence. Age, gender and race to not determine a person’s likelihood of being a victim of abuse.
After the death of Love, her family members established the One Love foundation to provide education and technology for victims suffering with domestic violence and other forms of abuse. This foundation provided the training for our Bluffton representatives along with the materials they used to lead the discussions.
Utilizing the resources provided by the One Love Foundation for domestic abuse has allowed students across the country to learn about domestic violence and the true cost of not reporting the signs.
Students with questions or concerns about domestic abuse or other forms of abuse, may contact Staton or Fairburn for support.
