Silent Witnesses

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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Our sister agencies and campus and community partners have been hosting events throughout the month to call attention to the epidemic of relationship violence and its (human and economic) costs. Here at the Carolina Women's Center, we elected to plan a DVAM program in conjunction with other members of the Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Training and Education (SARVTAE) task force.

A SARVTAE subcommittee, including representatives from the CWC, Counseling and Wellness Services, Project Dinah, the Women's Affairs Committee of Student Government, and the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County, elected to plan a Silent Witness exhibit on campus at the end of the month. Silent Witness is a national initiative to end domestic violence that uses life-sized silhouettes of women who have been murdered by their partners to raise awareness and encourage community-based violence prevention efforts.

Undergraduate members of the committee pointed out that while the silhouettes in the exhibit feature powerful stories that affect viewers, young women on campus may not be able to relate to the experiences of the (typically older-than-college-age) women. In other words, they may be profoundly moved by what they learn, and yet not make a direct connection between the display and their own lives and relationships. As an alternative, we decided to explore the idea of producing our own silhouettes featuring the stories of teens and twenty-somethings who have experienced some form of relationship abuse.

Our collaboration produced five silhouettes:

• "Tiffany," produced by student government's Women's Affairs Commitee, tells the story of a UNC undergraduate whose first college relationship was marred by physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.

• "Lynnesha," researched by CWC-based APPLES service-learning students in the Leadership and Violence Prevention class I am co-teaching with Bob Pleasants, highlights a teenage relationship initiated online that descends into a spiral of intensifying violence.

• "Mark," contributed by volunteers from the Family Violence Prevention Center, tells the story of a college-age man who sought help in obtaining a domestic violence protective order when he was abused, stalked, and harassed by his female partner.

• "Jess," produced by CWC and Counseling and Wellness staff, focuses on the experiences of a young Wisconsin college student whose first girlfriend, 10 years her senior, proves to be controlling and physically and emotionally abusive.

• And "Christen," by Project Dinah, recounts the chilling story of a UNC-Wilmington student who was gunned down by a former boyfriend who had been stalking her in 2004.

The figures, their stories, and literature about domestic violence are on display this week at the Carolina Union. Stop by and learn more about the experiences of these young men and women and how you can become involved in the struggle to end intimate partner violence in our community!

Thank you to Elizabeth Johnson, Adelia Odom, Leah Josephson, Sara Issacson, Amelia Hoyle, Maria Mendez, Sarah LaMorte, Bob Pleasants, Brandie Revoy, Rachel Kinney, Jessica Edens, Melinda Manning, and Richard Kwok for your assistance in making this project a reality!

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