For nine seconds, no one said a word.
Then Victoria Lee, member of the Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc., stepped forward.
“Every nine seconds in the U.S., a woman is assaulted or beaten,” she said, explaining the moment of silence. “It just keeps going and going.”
The annual candle light vigil, organized by the Center for Women and Community and the sisters of Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc., was held on Wednesday night in the New Africa House in honor of domestic violence awareness month.
Rebecca Lockwood, associate director of counseling and rape services at the CWC, said she hoped that this event would raise awareness that not just older couples are affected by domestic violence.
“Unfortunately, the traditional college-age population is at a very high risk for relationship violence,” she said. “We’ve had some very serious assaults that occurred between students over the last several years.”
Many leaders against domestic violence spoke at the event, including Marianne Winters, executive director of Safe Passage, a domestic violence program based in Northampton which provides counseling, shelter and support to survivors and their friends and families.
Winters added that in the past two and a half years since she has been at Safe Passage, there have been two women murdered in the Hampshire County, six babies born to mothers while they stayed at the shelter and 2,400 calls to their hotline and visits to their office.
Winters also shared her personal experience as a survivor of sexual assault during her years at college, and emphasized how despite the tragedy, she has grown from it.
“I can honestly say I have not worked a day in this work without drawing some way or another on that experience as an 18-year-old,” she said.
Now, Safe Passage is getting ready to launch their “Say Something” prevention initiative this Monday, which is based on the idea that we can all be active in preventing domestic violence just by speaking up.
“It’s based on our vision that our community can be free of violence,” she said. “Where neighbors and classmates step up to protect one another, where people who want to end violence know what to do and how to do it, where survivors are honored, and perpetrators are held accountable and where we are all safe.”
Janet Lopez, a detective who has been with the Amherst Police Department for 15 years, spoke next of her new position on the force which specializes in cases of domestic abuse and sexual assault. This, she said, was made possible by a recent grant.
“As a police officer, when you go through the police academy, you are not really trained in the whole sympathy issue of things,” she said. But as part of her job, she is allowed to show that sympathy.
“It helps the individual feel less isolated,” she added.
Lopez also emphasized the wide range of resources made available by the police department and the surrounding community, such as the address confidentiality program, free vouchers for transportation to the courthouse and assistance with filing restraining orders.
“Everyone deserves to feel safe. You are definitely not alone,” she said. “With the numerous resources out there, there is definitely someone willing to help, and they are just waiting for your call.”
Survivors in attendance were then encouraged to step forward and speak out about domestic violence and sexual assault. Following a minute-long moment of silence after many shared their personal stories, everyone gathered outside the North Africa House for the candle light vigil. United together around the calming glow of the numerous flickering candles each person held, students and community members gathered in a circle as the UMass gospel choir sang hymns of encouragement.
“This is to shed light on the ignorance and everything that goes on behind closed doors,” said Chaeun Hwang, president of Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc. “The whole point of the candle is to give a ‘light at the end of the tunnel.’”
Jaclyn Bryson can be reached at [email protected].
