Offering sweets in place of the bitter taste domestic violence might leave behind, the members of Successful Black Women, or SBW, will host a bake sale Tuesday in promotion of the Relationship Violence … Let’s Talk program.
The group will sell baked goods, candy and beverages ranging from 50 cents to $1 at the CATA bus station from noon to 6 p.m. to raise funds for the group and collect donations for the MSU Safe Place and Capital Area Response Effort, said Shardaya Gregory, a special education junior and SBW president.
Group members hope to recruit participants for the program by using the bake sale as a way to spread campus awareness, she said.
“We’re college students — we all know we’re hungry,” Gregory said.
The group will host a program addressing the signs and support for those struggling with relationship violence from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday in 472 Law College Building.
One in four relationships show signs of relationship violence and stalking, and most victims keep it a secret or don’t even know they are being abused, said Holly Rosen, MSU Safe Place director.
“(The entire relationship is) not all bad,” she said. “That’s what’s confusing. In some relationships, the person can be really loving and fun and attentive, but then other times, they can become very abusive and selfish and violent.”
Domestic violence is a rising issue, especially for women, said Chanae Brown, a nutritional sciences and premedical senior and the vice president of SBW.
“It’s a rising issue in our community, and women need to be aware,” she said. “Anyone can sit down and watch a (Lifetime) movie and say, ‘This can never happen to me — I’m never going to be in this situation.’ But when you’re put in it … then it’s a totally different story.”
With monitoring and stalking becoming easier with the help of technology, it’s necessary that people know the signs of relationship abuse so that they can be aware of their options, Rosen said.
“Even (before cellular phones and computers), there was a lot of monitoring that went on,” she said. “Checking in, checking receipts, checking the odometers in the car, checking the gas levels (are examples of stalking behaviors). Now it’s really easy — you just check people’s Facebook or their texts.”
Relationship violence no longer can be hidden and taboo — people need to speak up because it is a problem within our community, said Kristina Burrell, an interdisciplinary studies in social science and health studies senior and the SBW secretary.
“We want the word to get out. We want people to know where the resources are, who they can go to and who they can talk to,” she said. “(Students can then) see whether or not they are in or what qualifies as a toxic or violent relationship.”
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