Relationship violence prevalent issue on campus
Stepping Up Community Fair to provide information and resources
Dayla Brown
News Editor
The Stepping Up Community Fair is returning to Mount Royal on Nov. 13. The fair will discuss funding for the Stepping Up project, a weekend long retreat aimed to help students understand what relationship violence is, taking place in January.
The fair will also provide resources for students who are experiencing relationship violence, know someone who is or simply desire more information.
Katie Wotherspoon, second-year social work student, is a student facilitator for Stepping Up.
“The definition of relationship violence is when one persons actions or behaviours are used to gain power and control over another person in a relationship,” she said.
A survey completed in the National College Health Assessment in 2013 reported that one in three students experience relationship violence.
Wotherspoon says it’s important for students to know how to recognize relationship violence and understanding its impacts, know how to respond when they see it and know the resources that are available in the community and on campus.
“I am very excited about the upcoming event, as well as the weekend-long Stepping Up event in January, as it shows that our campus is a leader in ending relationship violence on college campuses. It’s exciting that we’re able to hold events like these that will reach so many people.”
Gaye Warthe, associate professor of social work and disabilities studies, Dr. Cathy Carter-Snell, associate professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery and Dr. Patricia Kostouros, associate professor, Child Studies and Social Work Department are the faculty researchers who started the Stepping Up program in 2010.
“Relationship violence, dating violence, intimate partner violence, domestic violence are all used interchangeably and include verbal, emotional, physical, sexual abuse,” says Warthe.
“It may also include financial and spiritual abuse.”
Students who attend the fair should keep an eye out for sign-in sheets, which will register them for the weekend-long event to take place in January. According to Warthe, up to 60 students will spend Saturday and Sunday morning focusing on relationships.
The event will take place on the second floor in Wyckham House, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information, Contact Melanie Carroll in the Pride Centre.
