Amidst the hustle and bustle of students on the first floor of the Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness and Well-Being stand the wooden figures, silently witnessing daily life on our campus. Little do students know as they quickly pass by these eerie red silhouettes are silently screaming out their message of awareness, hope, help and healing for victims or survivors of domestic violence.
Many students have probably passed these figures in the Bowers Center recently but do not recognize the important message the human silhouettes convey. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Elizabethtown College is fighting against domestic violence by working with the Silent Witness National Initiative and featuring a Silent Witness display on campus. For over six years, this display has been featured somewhere on campus. October is a designated time to specifically raise the voices of domestic violence victims and survivors.
Domestic violence is often spoken of but typically misunderstood. The Department of Justice defines domestic violence as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that one partner uses to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.” Domestic violence does not just mean physical violence but can also be economic, sexual, technological or psychological. It incorporates any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate or frighten another person. The silhouettes standing in the Bowers Center lobby all have fallen victim to this pervasive evil in our society. These cases are not far from home either as these silhouettes feature victims’ stories of people from our Central Pa. community:
Christina was so thrilled to become a mother. She bought her first pieces of clothes and baby DVDs for her expected child. Christina went missing after she did not show up as expected at a family gathering. After eight days of searching, her body was found in southern York County. Her boyfriend murdered her eight days before, after Christina shared the news with him that she was carrying his child. Not only does the Silent Witness display honor Christina, it honors the life of her unborn child. Her boyfriend was convicted of two charges of 1st-degree murder and is serving a life sentence in prison.
Robert was a devoted family man and a faculty member at Millersville University. In 2009, Robert was brutally attacked with kitchen tools and a baseball bat by his wife. He was sent to the hospital in critical condition but did not survive the intense violence he was subjected to. His wife was found mentally unstable and sentenced to seven and a half to fifteen years in a correctional institution.
Angela did not expect violence to haunt her outside of her fitness club in New Holland, Pa., where her estranged boyfriend was waiting for her. Angela was murdered just outside of the fitness club that she considered her happy place. Her estranged boyfriend not only violently ended her life but also the life of his son who was living in Denver at the time.
Domestic violence is not restricted to gender or socioeconomic status. Anyone can become a victim of domestic violence. Not only does domestic violence harm the people involved but it can also affect family or loved ones as well as witnesses and communities, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
While this display may be shocking to most students, it is important to raise awareness for the victims and for those struggling. “Our hope is for our campus community to take the information and apply it to their lives or to help the lives of others–not necessarily now but at some point. Awareness is a great way to develop advocacy, as well,” Assistant Director of Health Promotion at the Bowers Center Joni Eisenhauer said.
Even if students may not feel like domestic violence is something they need to be concerned about, Etown wants to bring awareness and resources to students now to prepare them for their future. “We do try to highlight topics each month to coordinate with national awareness initiatives or what is relevant in the lives of college students. We have numerous events based on well-being,” Eisenhauer said.
If you would like to become more involved with awareness efforts at school, Etown partners with many different initiatives throughout the year that resonate with college students. For more information about events and initiatives the College will be participating in, check out the Bowers Center website for more information here: https://www.etown.edu/bowers-center/
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