October has long been recognized as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. SUNY New Paltz and various organizations on campus have put together several events throughout the month to educate and raise awareness regarding various aspects of domestic violence, and how it is displayed in different kinds of relationships.
The interactive and discussion based workshop for LGBTQ+ Relationships was held on Oct. 18 in the Student Union Building (SUB).
Purple Thursday encourages students and faculty to raise awareness for domestic violence by wearing purple or posting to social media platforms. This was held on Oct. 19.
The “Navigating Love Languages, Healthy Boundaries and Emotionally Unsticking Ourselves Workshop” was held on Oct. 12 in the SUB. This was facilitated by the Crime Victim Advocate along with members from OASIS/HAVEN. Emily Cullen, a graduate student and the assistant coordinator of HAVEN. Cullen shared that this workshop “was cofacilitated with Elana Valencia from Ulster County’s “Enough is Enough” program. She designed the workshop and I attended to support and help guide discussion. The audience was bigger than I anticipated, which was great.”
The “Relationship Workshop,” facilitated by Professor Lisa Phillips, was held on Oct. 17 in the SUB. The 11th Annual Ulster County Domestic Violence Information Forum was held on Oct. 18 in the Lecture Center.
The “Breakup Workshop” was held on Oct. 24 from 6:30-7:45 p.m. in Humanities 218 and was facilitated by Phillips as well.
The “Positive Masculinity Workshop,” also facilitated by Professor Phillips, focuses on building connections through sharing the impacts of masculinity. This will take place on Oct. 25 from 6-8:00 p.m. in SUB 62/63.
“This will be the first time we will be hosting dating related workshops with activities. Last semester, we did have an open-table discussion regarding the topic of consent, which was a success and we wanted to continue these conversations,” Cullen revealed. The “It’s On Us Chapter” here at SUNY New Paltz will be presenting two different workshops. The “How to Exit an Unhealthy Relationship and Avoid Ongoing Manipulation Workshop” was presented on Oct. 23 from 6:30-7:45 p.m. in Humanities 218. Cullen shared that “the framework of both of these workshops were created by “It’s On Us,” which is a national organization that focuses on prevention of sexual assault on college campuses.”
The “Online Dating Safety Workshop” will be held on Oct. 26 from 6:30-7:45 p.m. in SUB 62/63.“We chose not only to provide important information, but also to allow for rich discussion and thought-provoking journal prompts to really allow the messages to soak in for attendees and give everyone the chance to apply them to our own lives,” Cullen said.
Other resources were available throughout the month, such as two separate informational webinar series. The Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence’s (OPDV) gender-based violence division, along with the Workplace Program, have been hosting “Lunch and Learn: Webinar Series I” once a week throughout the month. Additionally, the OPDV will be hosting a “Webinar Series II: Domestic Violence 101” for one hour each week.