October is Dating and Domestic Violence Awareness Month, a time when we can all show our support for survivors and our opposition to violence. As I spent the past few months organizing and planning events for the upcoming month, I was surprised when only a small fraction of students showed interest.
We hear the word \domestic"" and we think marriage, an act which has yet to cross most students' minds. What we fail to realize is that domestic violence is not limited to family life, but permeates our community and our lives. Domestic violence is not a foreign concept amid the great spectrum of violence against women.
Sexual assault seems like a much more relevant campus topic, yet we fail to recognize that sexual assault is often involved in domestic and dating violence. The two concepts are not separate entities, but intertwining forms of domination and violence. Perhaps we have trouble relating to domestic violence for the same reason that we refuse to believe that over 80 percent of sexual assaults are committed by acquaintances: We do not want to believe it. Domestic, by definition, implies a sense of relation closer than acquaintance. It is a difficult concept to believe that violence is possible, let alone by someone that you love and trust.
On Sep. 25, an article ran on Madison.com entitled ""Some Tips for Avoiding Rape."" Even after stating that the majority of rapes occur between people who know each other, the article lists prevention strategies like standing at the front of an elevator, locking your doors, and being ""awake and alert"" on public transportation. While these points hold some validity, they all address ways to prevent stranger rape, a mere fraction of all rapes. The article focuses on what we can do to prevent violence instead of thinking about why violence occurs in the first place.
If we really want to change the amount of violence committed, we must stop pretending that mace is the only answer. We must start working with relationships, inequalities, the basis of power and domination. No, these issues do not offer easy answers-but then again, violence is not an easy concept. We can no longer push domestic violence out of our student minds. It is part of our world and our responsibility to correct it.
I encourage everyone to attend one of the many awareness month events and to show your commitment to change.
