Many people think of October as a month of pink, but many would also like to see it as a month of purple as well. October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and while many are used to seeing the pink ribbons of Breast Cancer Awareness, the push for purple has become more important than ever.

The Human Services Group Dynamics class has decided to use this month as an opportunity to take a stand for “No More” domestic violence and sexual assault. Taught by Jean Batson-Turner, adviser of the Human Services organization, the group dynamics class is part of the curriculum in obtaining an associate’s in human services.

“As a former rape crisis center director I have seen too many woman, primarily, and some men, who have been victimized by some form of violence, so I’ve made this one of my life’s commitments; and my hopes for this particular ‘No More’campaign are that more people will start saying ‘No More’ to domestic and sexual violence. I would like to see purple as a big a color as pink in the month of October,” Turner stated.

This semester the class decided to use the “No More” campaign to promote awareness for domestic violence and sexual assault. They have planned many activities to bring attention to this issue including the sale of IVCC “No More” T-shirts which will be available for purchase in the IVCC bookstore. They are also teaming with Project Success for a fund raiser which will be held at Rip’s chicken in Ladd.

The students in the group all bring their own individual insight and experiences into the project which helps to make the push on campus more relatable and accessible to students. Whether having been in a domestic violence relationship in the past, as one student stated, or just noticing the need and feeling passionate about creating awareness, many different dynamics are brought to the table.

“I don’t think there is enough awareness in this area that is why I’m passionate about it,” student Lani Henkel and member of the Group Dynamics class stated. “I want to help create awareness of all the resources in the area for everybody that may have witnessed something in the past and not realized how they could help,” student Teresa King said.

The Group Dynamics class and the Human Services Organization partner with Freedom House and the ADV/SAS to promote
domestic violence and sexual assault resources and awareness.

The students also used the opportunity of IVCC’s Spirit Day last month to promote the “No More” campaign on campus by asking students and faculty to take a pledge to say No More to something that affected their lives or that they were passionate about.

Information about the events and T-shirt sales can be found at the Human Services Organization Facebook page.