The Mercer Women of Minorities Empowering the Neighborhood organization hosted a domestic violence panel to raise awareness and support the Crisis Line and Safe House of Central Georgia on Oct. 15. The organization aims to build community between minority women on campus while serving the neighborhood. At the panel, the Mercer Women's organization discussed various forms of domestic abuse: emotional, physical, financial and sexual.
“We wanted to honor the fact that October is Domestic Violence Month,” Jala Mosley ‘27, who helped plan the event said. “Because we’re all women, and we thought it was important to spread awareness and help educate our Mercer community on a topic as important as this one.”
"From 1994 to 2010, approximately 4 in 5 victims of intimate partner violence were female," according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline. The hotline also notes that more than 12 million people experience intimate partner violence per year. The World Health Organization states that one-third of women worldwide have experienced domestic violence in their lifetime. While domestic violence occurs amongst men and women, rates are 30 to 50 higher against minority women.
"Violence can negatively affect women’s physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health, and may increase the risk of acquiring HIV in some settings," the WHO said.
“I wanted to spread the key points about domestic violence, so I looked up specific topics that are very common and what people really need to know about it,” Kiara Deschamps ‘27, who created the presentation, said. “I tried to hit all the major points.”
At the end of the presentation, they encouraged everyone to grab paper and gel pens to make cards for the local domestic shelter, spreading messages like “Stay safe” and “You’re not alone.” They dropped off the cards at Crisis Line, which is about five minutes from Mercer and is open at all hours, on Friday morning.
Some of the participants at the panel on Wednesday wondered what to write to victims of domestic abuse. The student organization emphasized that as long as the overall message was positive, supportive and something that the victims could appreciate, the words themselves did not matter as much.
“We wanted this to be a safe space for everyone,” Mosley said. “Yes, we’re the women’s club, and yes, we focus on minority women, but that doesn’t mean everyone isn’t welcome. Even if you’re a man, feel free to pull up.”
Mercer W.O.M.E.N invites students to join them at several events they having coming up, such as their table at SGA's Wellness Fair on Oct. 22, and at the Harvest Fest on Oct. 29. Deschamps also said the group will also host an escape room on Oct. 30.
To anonymously report any concern or reach out for help, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text BEGIN to 88788.
Geetanjali Angara ‘29 is an International Affairs major at Mercer University and a staff writer at The Cluster. Her hobbies are reading, writing and playing piano. You can typically either find her with a good book or singing a Taylor Swift song.
