Fort Hays State University is covered in red flags as the Women’s Leadership Project of the Center for Civic Engagement takes a stand this month against Domestic Violence. With October being Domestic Violence awareness month, Fort Hays is at work educating students.
The Red Flag Campaign is a public awareness campaign designed to address dating violence and promote the prevention of dating violence on college campuses. By taking a bi-standard approach to encourage friends, clubs and teachers of the abused to step up and do something. Research indicates that in 21 percent of college dating relationships, one of the partners is being abused. That’s one in five relationships.
WLP will be hosting several events on campus to bring awareness to the Red Flag campaign.
Their kick-off event Tuesday featured a video created by the WLP entitled “That’s Not Love.” The movie depicted several scenarios of dating red flags on several different types of relationships, including homosexual and immigrant. The event also featured several speakers who gave statistics about dating violence and resources on and off campus for people to utilize.
The WLP has also teamed up with the athletics department to sign and present a banner vowing to prevent and report “red flags.” The banner will be presented at the Oct. 13 soccer game and the Oct. 15 football game.
The WLP will also be hosting a self-defense seminar 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Oct. 29 in Cunningham Hall room 110. The seminar is open to all students and the public.
Red Flags in relationships make the abused, abuser and others aware that a relationship may be abusive.
Indications of an abusive relationship are not just physical. Emotional and sexual abuse are just as, if not more, damaging to the victim as physical violence. It is also likely that violence will escalate in frequency and intensity over time. Physical, sexual and emotional violence work hand in hand to keep the perpetrator in control. The progression of violence will only stop when the abusive person makes a conscious choice to stop the behavior. This may happen when the person who has been abused is no longer accessible.
For a list of other activities, visit the WLP’s website, womensleadershipproject.org.
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