Rutgers turns campus purple with week of domestic violence awareness events
Turn the Campus Purple Week kicked off this weekend with tabling at the Rutgers football game on Saturday and a “Red Card on Violence” soccer tournament on Busch campus on Sunday.
The campaign is organized by the Office of Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance and will last until Oct. 12. The week-long initiative, which takes place during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, aims to raise awareness on interpersonal violence.
Here are five events to check out over the coming week that will try to address these issues.
Healing Hours
Today, and everyday this week, VPVA will be holding an open hour of healing and talking from 1 to 2 p.m. at 3 Bartlett St. in New Brunswick, NJ.
The meetings will include open discussions about current events and will provide a space to practice healing, according to VPVA.
Human Trafficking Presentation
A presentation by a FBI victim specialist will take place on Tuesday from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Rutgers Academic Building room 2400. The event is titled "Human Trafficking: From a New Jersey Lens."
Bodega
A staged reading of the play "Bodega" written by Federico Fraguada, will take place at the Red Lion Cafe in the College Avenue Student Center on Wednesday, and will attempt to bring conversations about masculinity, violence and sexual assault to the Latinx community in order to bridge the gap between different cultures and victim services, according to VPVA.
The office said it will also highlight both Latinx Heritage Month and Turn the Campus Purple week. The free event starts at 8:30 p.m. and doors open at 8 p.m.
Clothesline Project
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, The Clothesline Project will take place at Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue campus. VPVA said this will serve as a visual display to remember and honor survivors and victims of violence.
The mission of the clothesline project began in Cape Cod, Mass. in 1990 to encouraging people to break the silence and address the issue of violence against women, according to the VPVA website. Rutgers started its own project in 1998 and has since displayed more than 400 shirts all created by members of the University community.
Candlelight Vigil
A candlelight vigil on Thursday night will show support for survivors through a moment of silence and providing the opportunity for people to speak and listen to each others stories, according to the VPVA.
The event will take place at 8 p.m. at the steps outside of Brower Commons, and anyone interested in speaking can fill out a Google form by noon on Thursday, which is found on VPVA's Facebook page.
"The event will begin with an overview of facts and statistics about dating and domestic violence, followed by personal testimonies, stories, poetry and any other form of self-expression," organizers said about the event. "We will end the evening with a moment of silence for all survivors and victims of interpersonal violence."
