Coahoma Community College October 21, 2018 CCC Makes Campus-Wide Objection Against Domestic Violence Lately, the Coahoma Community College campus has been shedding light on the prevalent issue of domestic violence on college campuses. Students and staff members boldly rejected the crime in unique ways around campus during the month of October. Kenneth Gooden, the program coordinator of CCC's Dating and Domestic Violence Prevention program, says that most individuals are not aware that domestic abuse has become widespread and that it often goes unreported. "They don't know that it's a silent crime," Gooden said. Lead Officer of the campus safety staff Chief George Brown and other CCC campus policemen recently publicized their stance regarding the issue by placing on the rear of their police cars purple and red ribbon-shaped magnets promoting the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence website, StandUptoDV.org. The site encourages bystanders to help eliminate situations of domestic abuse by pledging to STAND (Speak up when the victim is making excuses for the violence, Treat your partner with respect, Always confront abusive behavior, Never assume a victim will be alright, Delay a situation that may be leading to domestic violence). As noted on the Center for Family Justice website, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that a person is abused in the United States every nine seconds. Another alarming statistic found by the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey says one in four women have experienced severe physical violence by an intimate partner. "We want the victim to feel safe," Gooden said. "I think that Student Engagement has done a good job recently of making things safer for the victim. For example, let's say that there's an incidence of domestic violence. There are certain procedures and rules and policies in place not only for the alleged victim but also for the offender." Coahoma has a Campus Community Response team made up of faculty and staff members who deal with instances of dating and domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking here at CCC. The campus policy on stalking has been modified and updated to encompass the various ways one could be determined a stalker. "They got a more comprehensive definition so that people would realize exactly what stalking is," said Gooden. "We want to make sure we're addressing different needs. Sometimes it's just a general definition." Gooden said the average person believes that only a phone call is made to the police in such occurrences. However, there are also other steps taken to ensure the situation is completely handled. "It's much more than that because we not only think about you legally; we think about your emotional well-being, too," said Gooden. "We provide counseling for you with Ms. Renee Hall here on campus. Also, we have outside help from many of our community partners such as the family crisis service." Recently, participants of 'Jeans 4 Justice' became painters for a day, brushing onto denim jeans colored messages that discourage domestic abuse. "I didn't look at the calendar but I saw the commotion," said CCC freshman Heidi Hankins. "I was like, 'What is this about?' So I decided I would get involved. It's for a good cause though." On Monday Oct. 22, the Department of Justice' Office of Violence Against Women will sponsor the 'Flash Mob 4 Peace' event at the Zee A. Barron Student Union starting at 6:30 p.m. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/