Public should be aware of partner violence

Valentine's Day warrants the opportunity for many women to receive roses, candy or jewelry, but what almost no one knows is that some women got beatings this year. Intimate partner violence, or IPV, occurs more often than not in our society that glorifies the objectification of women and promotes violence as a solution. This is something that needs everyone's attention because IPV does not discriminate and could be happening right under your nose.

So what exactly is intimate partner violence? For the sake of limited space, I'll give you a brief definition. Women Against Abuse - an organization dedicated to helping women and their children in situations of domestic abuse - defines IPV as a pattern of abusive behaviors that adults or even adolescents use on their intimate partners in order to control and gain power over them. These means of control include but are not limited to: sexual abuse, economic dependency, isolation from friends and family, physical/emotional/mental abuse, and threat of harm to pets, children or belongings.

According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (www.cdc.gov/ncipc/default.htm), a branch of the Centers for Disease Control, around 5.3 million women 18 or older experience intimate partner violence, nearly 2 million women are injured and an estimated 1,300 women die as a result of IPV every year. Occurring most frequently in women, there have been numbers of reported incidents of IPV among men; however, men are much more likely to let it go unreported. Unfortunately, our society supports and even promotes aggression.

The cycle can be broken by educating children, and adults, that violence is never the answer. Campaigns of organizations such as the Family Violence Prevention Fund (endabuse.org) are trying to eradicate IPV by education. Through the promotion of programs such as "Coaching Boys into Men," organizations aim to dispel society's conflicting messages about what it means to be a "real man."

Victims now have a number of options to turn to. On the national level, there are hotlines such as the one offered on the Women Against Abuse Web site www.womenagainstabuse.org out of Philadelphia, (866) 723-3014 or (866) SAFE-014, which runs 24 hours a day 365 days a year, and someone is always ready to listen or offer help to assist in leaving an abusive relationship.

On a local level, there are numerous county and municipal services available as well as independent organizations. Here in Monmouth County there are independent services such as 180 Turning Lives Around (www.180nj.org) located in Hazlet, that offer a number of opportunities for escaping abusive relationships and households; 180 addresses issues such as counseling, court assistance, shelter and housing as well as training and education surrounding domestic violence. The organization also offers a hot line for domestic abuse at (888) 843-9262), and sexual assault (888) 264-RAPE (866) 264-7273, as well as a youth helpline (888) 222-2228 9 a.m. to midnight.

Instances of date rape and sexual violence can be found on any college campus in America. Monmouth University offers programs and campaigns similar to those of the aforementioned. There are university resources such as the counseling and psychological services, and student-run programs such as the Bystander Action Campaign and the Brown Envelope Project. These are available to IPV victims and students on campus. Contact Monmouth's student activities department at (732) 571-3586 to find out how you can get involved and help prevent IPV.

All of this is just a tip of the iceberg. Intimate partner abuse is not something that will go away overnight. But we all can do something about it. Don't let the abuse go unnoticed. Volunteer or get involved in local efforts to report what you see and offer victims a chance to change their lives. It is not OK to violate another human being, and when we remember this, we too can help others as well as ourselves to overcome intimate partner abuse.

Erin Stattel

Marlboro

Monmouth University

Student