Chloe Coffield, staff writer and Dekira Wilkerson, staff writer

Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) was started by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) and began as a “Day of Unity” in October 1981. Although first observed as a full month in October 1987, DVAM was commissioned into being observed by Congress in 1989.

As awareness month begins, it’s important for students to have a better understanding of what domestic violence is and how to better see the signs and protect ourselves and others against this violence.

It is important to note the work that Berry does to educate students. Berry has domestic violence modules that students are required to complete. Associate Dean of Students Lindsay Norman says the modules are used to educate students on what behaviors are expected and to understand the support provided for them both on and off campus.

“The main goal of the modules is for students to know what’s expected of their behavior and to know what support is on or off campus,” Norman said. “They are also a part of a required mandate from the federal government.”

Norman said that the modules are created on a national level in accordance with federal regulations and using research by experts working in various related fields.

“Modules are developed nationally and they closely align with the federal regulations about the Violence on Women Act,” Norman said. “We’ve chosen to use professional resources that are developed by experts. People working in Law Enforcement, Victims Advocate roles and people in all sectors are creating these modules, so they get updated every few years based on their research.”

Norman hopes that students will use these modules to get a better understanding of domestic violence, so that they can help themselves and others identify the signs.

“I hope [students will] learn about [domestic violence] not only for themselves but to recognize harmful behavior in other relationships,” Norman said. “ I think that sometimes people in this age group are likely to have their first relationship. We can sometimes miss those warning signs, especially if it’s the first relationship.”

Commenting on the topic is a Berry student who found themselves in an abusive romantic relationship. The student requested to remain anonymous.

“It’s really easy to get yourself into a situation and not realize that you’re being hurt,” the anonymous source said. “You don’t realize until it’s too late. It’s very scary because you don’t know what your partner is going to do to you.”

Professor of Family Studies Brian Jory said researching these intimate relationships in the context of domestic violence was not commonly done in the past. His experience as a counselor is what ultimately led to his research studies on the topic.

“Around three decades ago, I went to a conference about domestic violence and was shocked when I realized that counseling researchers don’t really understand intimate partner violence,” Jory said. “I was very disappointed. I came back and told my graduate students we are going to study domestic violence.”

As a result, he created the Intimate Injustice Scale (IJS). This scale started off with over 200 questions to be reduced to a 15-question assessment that only takes five minutes.

“We needed a way to detect the victims,” Jory said. “I developed a scale of 15 questions. It doesn’t talk about victimization, just answering questions about their partner. It cuts through the defensiveness of them not wanting to feel like a victim.”

The scale has had great success globally, due to its conciseness, but also because it has proven to be extremely effective for detecting victims or potential victims.

“We found that this does sort out victims of domestic violence and potential victims,” Jory said. “Once I published it, it took off.”

In all of the research that has been done by Jory, he said that no matter what the situation of abuse is, the paradigms are extremely similar.

“I think it’s important to let people know that this stuff follows a pattern,” Jory said. “We need to be aware of that pattern.”

He said the pattern as people going into relationships with a power imbalance already in place where the victim is at a disadvantage because they are dependent on the abuser in some way. He gave an example of a situation where the victim has left their family and moved to a country where they do not even speak the language.

“A lot of people go into relationships totally dependent [on the other person],” Jory said. “When you have a relationship like that, you are by definition one down in the relationship. You are at the other person’s mercy.”

Identifying yourself or someone else as a victim of domestic violence can be difficult. Jory recommends taking the IJS and reaching out to professional counselors. Jory is a former law enforcement officer and he said that calling law enforcement maybe not be the best solution to a domestic violence case.

“I think that people do believe that law enforcement is well trained to do this, and that is just not true,” Jory said. “For the most part, they really don’t know how to deal with sexual violence.”

When it comes to finding reliable help, our source calls for survivors like themselves to seek help from places that specialize in helping abuse victims, rather than blindly trusting law enforcement as Jory suggested.

“Reaching out to domestic violence counselors is probably the best resource for survivors,” the anonymous source said.

Jory realizes that, on some level, the main thing keeping people out on conversation is the concept that is very similar to the ‘bystander effect’ in that people typically step to the side unless it involves them directly.

“I think the most important misconception is that they never believe it will happen to them,” Jory said. “We need to make people aware that this could happen to anyone. Another [misconception] is that it happens only to bad people or the victims blame themselves. I’ve never met a victim that doesn’t think that, on some level, they were to blame.”

Norman emphasizes that even if the student in a harmful situation is not ready to use resources provided, they may be ready to use them in the future. The anonymous source gave some tips to offer for not only students, but people in general who wish to support the victim in any way they can.

“Being patient with the person is what I wish more people knew,” the anonymous source said. “They’ve probably been through a lot more than you realize. Listening is a really good way to be there for someone. Just listening to their stories, to what happened, anything really. It’s good to be able to be heard, for once.”

Norman encourages students to stand with their friends who have found themselves in harmful relationships.

“I think that sometimes there’s frustration with a friend who might be in a harmful relationship when you don’t understand the decision making behind it,” Norman said. “Show empathy and stay with them, be their friend.”