ASU's Counseling Center to sponsor 'Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Week' Sept. 27- Oct. 1

September 20, 2010 -- October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, and in an effort to draw attention to problems related to sexual assault and domestic violence, the ASU Counseling Center is sponsoring Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Week. Interactive educational activities will be held each day in the Natural State Lounge of the Reng Student Services Center/Student Union, 101 N. Caraway Road,  with a candlelight vigil to be held in the Student Union courtyard (near the Chi Omega fountain on Aggie Road) on Tuesday evening.

The Silent Witness Project
Monday-Friday, Sept. 27-Oct. 1, Natural State Lounge, Student Union:
Domestic Violence is a pattern of assaultive and coercive behaviors including physical, sexual, and psychological attacks as well as economic coercion that adults or adolescents use against their intimate partners or other family members.

Created by the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 1995, the Silent Witness Project consists of life-sized plywood cutouts painted red and black. Each cutout represents a female victim murdered by an intimate partner from the most recent year and tells the victim's story on a shield attached to the cutout. Last year, 21 Arkansas women were murdered during acts of domestic violence. 

A video version of the Clothesline Project will also be displayed. Created by Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence in 1994, the project is a collection of approximately 300 hand-decorated T-shirts displayed on a clothesline, with each T-shirt representing a woman killed in Arkansas by an intimate partner from 1989 to 2009.

The Silent Witness will be displayed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day in the Natural State Lounge area of ASU's Student Union. The public is encouraged to join the ASU campus community and participate in this educational awareness program.

Domestic Violence Candlelight Vigil
Student Union Courtyard (Near the Chi Omega Fountain, Aggie Road):
A candlelight vigil to honor victims and survivors of domestic violence will be held on Tuesday evening, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m.

This is an annual event held by the ASU Counseling Center to increase awareness of the effects of domestic violence and to encourage the community to take steps to prevent domestic violence in our families and society.

Speakers at the event will include domestic violence survivor Carolyn Thomas, Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, Co-Occurring Disorder Professional, and Tamara Pace, Miss Black Arkansas.

Last year, 21 Arkansas women were murdered during acts of domestic violence. Each victim will be personally memorialized during the vigil. The public is encouraged to join the ASU campus community and participate in this educational awareness program.

For more information, contact Dr. Phil Hestand (phestand@astate.edu), director, ASU Counseling Center, (870) 972-2318.

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