Augustana to host domestic violence awareness events

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and this year Augustana College is hosting events throughout the month to spread awareness and involve the local community. Each event is geared toward different audiences and is sponsored by Augustana College or one of the many Quad-City organizations dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence.

Rising Up Against Violence (student event) – Oct. 1 at 6:30 p.m. in Hanson 102

Activist, writer and performer Brooke Axtell, a survivor of sexual trafficking and partner violence, will share her story of abuse, healing and hope in a powerful, spoken-word presentation.

This event is sponsored by SafePath Survivor Resources and Augustana College's Department of Women's & Gender Studies.

Free and open to the public, this event's intended audience is both high school and college students in the Q-C area. This presentation has challenging content; a safe room will be available.

For more information, visit the Rising Up Against Sexual Violence Student Event on Facebook or contact Dr. Jane Simonsen, associate professor of history, at janesimonsen@augustana.edu or 309-794-8916

Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) train-the-trainer training – Oct. 2 from 3:30-9 p.m. and Oct. 3 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., College Center Board Room

MVP is a violence prevention program begun by noted masculinity scholar and former professional football player Jackson Katz. In this two-day session, participants from Augustana and other area colleges/agencies will receive intensive awareness training on leadership, battering, sexual assault/rape, gender roles, sexual harassment, and homophobia/heterosexism. After completing this training, participants will be prepared to provide awareness-raising training sessions within their organizations.

This event is sponsored by SafePath Survivor Resources.

This event is free and open to the public; however there are limited seats and an RSVP by Sept. 28 is required to attend.

For more information, please contact Emilee Goad at emileeg@famres.org.

The Hunting Ground Screening – Oct. 5, 7-9 p.m., Hanson 102

The Hunting Ground is a powerful documentary that examines sexual assault on college campuses. The film presents the stories of college student survivors and the handling of sexual assault cases by colleges and universities. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Augustana students, an Augustana Title IX coordinator, and a representative from SafePath. 

This event is sponsored by Junior League of the Quad Cities.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Dr. Jessica Schultz, assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, at jessicaschultz@augustana.edu or 309-794-7305.

Clothesline Project – Oct. 5

This project was started in 1990 as a way to give women who had been silenced through violence a chance to voice their perspectives and stories about domestic and sexual violence. Today, it has spread to campuses around the world and calls for the voices of any gender to share their story and/or express their support. The project will have its Clothesline set up all day with shirts made by Augustana students in the Quad. Later that night, The Hunting Ground, produced by Amy Ziering (producer of The Invisible War), will be hosted on campus. The following day, on Oct. 6, Augustana will host a "Day of Self Care," with tips and an event or two for anyone who engaged with either of the Oct. 5 events, due to their difficult content.

This event is sponsored by COMM 265 Health Communications.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Dr. Jessica Nodulman, assistant professor of communication studies, at jessicanodulman@augustana.edu