By Ari’ Browley
October serves as Domestic Abuse Awareness Month, and Grand Rapids Community College’s Center for Student Life and Leadership is bringing awareness straight to campus through a Relationship Reset Workshop.
What is domestic abuse?
According to the United Nations, domestic abuse, also known as intimate partner violence, can be characterized as “a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner.” For more information about domestic abuse, visit the U.N. website here.
The Relationship Reset Workshop will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Student Center, room 234.
Andrew Sweeder, assistant director of the Campus Activities Board, explained the inspiration behind the workshop and the importance of raising awareness about domestic abuse.
“We chose this workshop for a couple of reasons,” Sweeder said. “One is to be in alignment with Domestic Awareness Month, as part of our preventative education goals here on campus is for students to know and have access to resources prior to having to deal with a situation like domestic abuse. It’s also helpful for our students to know what resources are available if they have friends or relatives that may be facing domestic abuse.”
The workshop will cover more than domestic abuse, including warning signs and behaviors that can lead to an abusive relationship.
“Two is that the workshop will cover information beyond domestic abuse, including abusive tendencies or “red flags” that can emerge in student relations,” Sweeder said. “While data for our own students was not necessarily a direct driver of this workshop, domestic abuse that college students do sometimes face created merit in us providing resources and information to our students.”
Denise Kooiker and Michelle VanTorre-Werme will be the speakers present at the workshop, two community educators that are a part of W2WHealthy You, “an organization that offers programs about sex and healthy relationships for schools and their students,” Sweeder said.
Interactive activities will also be a part of the workshop.
“… One is the Dating P.L.A.N. which helps… students to understand their wants out of engaging in a relationship, an activity highlighting the building blocks of a healthy relationship, and a Red Flag or Green Flag activity to help students identify healthy vs. unhealthy behavior in a relationship,” Sweeder said.
But what can students really take away from this workshop?
“Students can expect to learn more about why they may want to engage in a relationship and how to identify if a relationship they are engaging with is built on and engages in healthy behavior or not,” Sweeder said. “The goal is to inform students to better understand when a relationship is harmful to their well-being or a healthy and well-cultivated relationship.”
Even if a student is not in a relationship, Sweeder highlighted the importance of understanding and recognizing abuse in relationships.
“It’s okay to come even if you are not currently in a relationship,” Sweeder said. “Understanding what a healthy and supportive relationship versus an abusive or harmful relationship entails is information that can serve not only you, but friends, family members, or colleagues. With preventative education here at GRCC, we operate on the idea that it’s better to know and not need resources than to need and not know resources.”
If you or someone you know is facing domestic abuse, help is available. The National Domestic Abuse Hotline and GRCC’s Counseling and Well-being Office offer support and resources for those who need help.
