Spring Break
Work together to stop violence
Sarah Zeeck
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Opinion
Outside the University Union you might have noticed the Clothesline Project, a broad stretch of multicolored and decorated T-shirts commemorating the lives of survivors and deceased that have suffered unimaginable forms of abuse. Take a good look at those shirts, if at all possible.
Abuse is such a general topic, but lately it seems to be one that needs to be addressed. Abuse comes in many forms - rape, domestic, neglect, physical and psychological. Even animals are abused. Why is this necessary?
Organizations have been fighting for a long time to put an end to violence. On our campus, we have "Take Back the Night" and more recently "Take Back the Campus" as efforts to put an end to abuse and violence.
Fight as people may, the numbers don't seem to be dwindling. Just looking at the domestic side of things, according to the National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Women are 7-14 times more likely than men to report suffering severe physical assaults from an intimate partner." According to a compilation by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, "Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime."
You probably already knew there were people walking around, even some you have seen daily, who suffer from various forms of abuse. One-third of the women you know have likely been abused somehow.
If we can't even leave homes without violence, what hope does our country have to succeed in developing peace with other nations? A war is one of the most extreme instances of violence, and because we're so driven by it as a country, there seems to be no hope to escape the horrible patterns.
The only hope we have is to vow to end it personally. If you see something wrong going on, whether it is to you or someone you know, don't let it happen. Tell someone - a friend, a law enforcement official, a counselor or someone else. People should not suffer needlessly.
Maybe the efforts of a few can finally accomplish something. Realistically, there won't be a complete turnaround, but maybe abuse cases will begin decreasing. Maybe next year, there will be fewer shirts to add to the Clothesline Project.
Abuse is such a general topic, but lately it seems to be one that needs to be addressed. Abuse comes in many forms - rape, domestic, neglect, physical and psychological. Even animals are abused. Why is this necessary?
Organizations have been fighting for a long time to put an end to violence. On our campus, we have "Take Back the Night" and more recently "Take Back the Campus" as efforts to put an end to abuse and violence.
Fight as people may, the numbers don't seem to be dwindling. Just looking at the domestic side of things, according to the National Institute of Justice and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Women are 7-14 times more likely than men to report suffering severe physical assaults from an intimate partner." According to a compilation by the Family Violence Prevention Fund, "Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime."
You probably already knew there were people walking around, even some you have seen daily, who suffer from various forms of abuse. One-third of the women you know have likely been abused somehow.
If we can't even leave homes without violence, what hope does our country have to succeed in developing peace with other nations? A war is one of the most extreme instances of violence, and because we're so driven by it as a country, there seems to be no hope to escape the horrible patterns.
The only hope we have is to vow to end it personally. If you see something wrong going on, whether it is to you or someone you know, don't let it happen. Tell someone - a friend, a law enforcement official, a counselor or someone else. People should not suffer needlessly.
Maybe the efforts of a few can finally accomplish something. Realistically, there won't be a complete turnaround, but maybe abuse cases will begin decreasing. Maybe next year, there will be fewer shirts to add to the Clothesline Project.
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