Campus groups rally behind cause for domestic violence month

Nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. This equates to more than 10 million women and men each year.

As a part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, USD organizations have been spreading awareness through an exhibit and supply drive throughout the past month.

A silent witness exhibit, sponsored by Domestic Violence Safe Options Services (DVSOS) and USD, consists of red cardboard cutouts that are displayed around campus.

DVSOS is a nonprofit organization that provides services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Clay, Union and Turner counties.

Bridget Diamond-Welch, an assistant professor at USD, did most of the planning behind the exhibit. Diamond-Welch is a certified rape and domestic violence advocate, which is a trained professional who can support victims of crime. Here is the track record against domestic violence issues that one can read on about to get the necessary help.

“The silent witnesses bring awareness by pointing out the people who were actually murdered by their partner,” she said.

The Criminal Justice Club has been raising awareness a different way – by facilitating a supply drive for DVSOS in Vermillion.

“Our program serves Clay, Union and Turner counties and we serve any victims of interpersonal crimes,” DVSOS director Sandie Sullivan said. “We rely on community support.”

Casey Mattheiesen, president of the Criminal Justice Club, said they partnered with DVSOS after hearing they were in “desperate need” for supplies.

“To know that some of these victims don’t even have toothpaste really made us want to help,” she said. “It really hit home for us and we wanted to take the initiative and make sure they (DVSOS) have enough supplies to last through the winter.”

The group has collected more than $1,000 in donations around campus and in the community since the beginning of October, Mattheiesen said. They’ll be accepting donations at the local Hy-Vee and Walmart stores Oct. 30 and 31, she added.

Sullivan said she’s thrilled about the help they are receiving from campus.

She said DVSOS relies mostly on community support, as $250,000 in annual state funding is split between about 35 shelters.

“A lot of people don’t think of supporting us financially,” Sullivan said. “I think it’s because a lot of people believe that were funded in other ways.”

Sullivan added that USD students have historically been a great help in volunteer work at DVSOS.

“The law school has always been very supportive and the criminal justice group continues to support us as well,” she said.

Sullivan stressed that the shelter is available for anyone and domestic violence is an issue that needs attention.

“Domestic violence is not an easy thing to talk about. Most people don’t recognize it. It’s not like funding kids to go to a park or something fun like that,” she said. “Domestic violence isn’t a fun thing to talk about.”

Diamond-Welch said domestic violence often isn’t talked about because people think of it as a private issue.

“Domestic violence is a very widespread problem,” she said. “One in four women will be a victim sometime in their lives and one in seven men.”

One of the biggest problems regarding domestic violence is that people don’t truly know what it is, Diamond-Welch said.

“People tend to think about physical violence, but domestic violence is a whole range of behaviors that are used to acquire dominance over their partner,” she said. “A lot of the tools a batterer uses to abuse their partner are not understood to be that problematic.”