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Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
While the daily updates about Chris Brown and Rihanna has probably sickened all of us, this high profile case of domestic violence may help to raise awareness about this often-hidden crime.
But even before the tabloid feeding frenzy over this celebrity incident, local high school students decided to take a stand against domestic violence (DV) because they realized the detrimental effects it has on students and larger society.
At 6 p.m. on Saturday, the Albuquerque High School (AHS) Student Senate will host a charity event at Old Albuquerque High School. “Students Helping Students: Domestic Violence and Its Impact on Student Achievement” will include student poetry about DV, proclamations from Gov. Bill Richardson and the Albuquerque’s City Council, and recognition of local individuals who work with DV victims.
Marissa Chacon, a senior at AHS who plans to attend the University of New Mexico, said the Student Senate thought it was time to bring this issue into the open.
“From my experience, a lot of people deal with this, but it is hidden behind closed doors,” she said. “This is a way to bring awareness, education and support for those victims of DV.” Chacon and her classmates hope to raise $10,000 at the event, with $8,500 going toward senior scholarships and $1,500 going to ENLACE Comunitario, a local nonprofit whose mission is to eliminate domestic violence and advance immigrant rights.
ENLACE’s outreach associate, Blanca Pedigo, said that her organization provides previously unavailable DV services to the local Spanish-speaking population and serves 700 families each year. She said that her organization’s clients face many difficult decisions regarding whether to stay with an abusive partner or not, including issues of financial and emotional stability for others in the family.
“But why do we focus on ‘Why did she stay?’ instead of asking ‘Why did he abuse her?’” she asked, pointing out that the current magazine headlines choose to focus on whether Rihanna will stay with her partner instead of asking why Chris Brown decided to attack her.
The answer to this question returned us to the issue of DV being an issue that is not talked about in public, not openly addressed often enough. However, there are promising tides of change to change that.
In the last few years, New Mexico has developed a Domestic Violence Homicide Review Team under state statute. This group’s recently released report of the 21 DV homicides statewide in 2008 illustrates that DV does not end with moving away from the abuser; 75 percent of DV homicide victims were separated from their offender at the time of death.
In addition to efforts to study DV, there is also a need for more men to stand up as educators, as advocates that DV is not acceptable.
“Working to end family violence one man at a time,” the mantra of the national organization Men’s Network Against Domestic Violence, is an example of where this is beginning to happen.
For those who cannot attend Saturday’s event but who wish to get involved in DV advocacy, the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence welcomes you to get in touch with them (email: info@nmcadv.org, ph# 505-246-9240).
And on a smaller level, Pedigo reminds us, “If you know someone in a DV situation, listen to them. Let them know that they are not alone, and work to empower them to seek the help they need.”
Anthony Fleg, a regular NMI contributor, is a family medicine resident physician at the University of New Mexico and a coordinator for the Native Health Initiative.
