Prevention Education & Involvement
The Violence Awareness & Response Program hosts education and outreach initiatives that normalize conversations about, and encourage active involvement in, prevention. Through presentations, events, and observances, we empower students & colleagues to build healthy relationships, engage in harm-reduction strategies, and build a proactive culture on our MNSU Mankato campus that values accountability to non-violence.
Domestic Violence Prevention & Awareness Months
October is observed as National Domestic Violence Prevention & Awareness Month. This initiative was started in 1981 by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence as a Day of Unity to connect battered women’s advocates across the United States.
Now in its 43rd year, individuals and communities across our nation join together during this month in a strategic effort to raise awareness of domestic violence, and all forms of relationship violence, as a public health issue and educate others on how they can take action to advocate for change, intervene to stop abuse from occurring, and support those who are impacted.
Learn more about Domestic Violence Prevention & Awareness Month
Relationship violence is a more expansive term, and includes abuse that happens between, for example, friends, roommates, coworkers, and acquaintances. It may also include abuse between married, estranged, dating, or intimate partners.
- Relationship Violence is a pattern of behaviors used by one partner to maintain power and controlover another person. Anyone may experience relationship violence at various times in their life course – as a child, adolescent, young adult, adult, or as an elder. It includes any act of threatened, attempted, or completed violence.
- Relationship violence includes acts of sexual assault, stalking, physical abuse, economic or emotional abuse, including behaviors that are intended to intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, or isolate someone. It may also include harmful acts or threats against family members, friends, pets, or property.
When we use the term Dating Violence, we are referring to a crime that specifically occurs between individuals within a social or romantic relationship, who are defining themselves as partners.
When we use the term Domestic Violence, we are referring to any act of violence between current/former spouses, individuals who share a child in common, individuals who are living or have lived with each other as spouses or intimate partners, or anyone who causes harm to an adult or child in violation of domestic violence or family violence laws.
When we use the term Intimate Partner Violence, we are referring to dating, domestic, or relationship violence where intimacy or sexuality is present.
In January, we commemorate National Stalking Prevention & Awareness Month. This initiative serves as a call to action, urging us to recognize and respond to the serious crime of stalking.
In January, we also observe National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. This crucial initiative aims to raise awareness about the various forms of human trafficking and educate communities on identifying and responding to this crime.
Learn more about National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
In February, we recognize Dating Violence Awareness Month. We extend the conversation beyond teen relationships to include adult dynamics such as intimate partner violence, dating violence, and domestic violence, while acknowledging that ages 13-17 are a heightened time when children & adolescents may be exposed to harm.
Presentations
The following presentations are available by request for student organizational meetings, classrooms, or department meetings/professional development retreats. We require a minimum of 10 attendees in the room unless prior arrangements have been made with our staff. Requesters are responsible for identifying and reserving a location that has a projection screen, computer/lap-top connection, and audio for in-person presentations.
Bystander intervention is a primary prevention strategy, and a pillar of national best practices in campus violence prevention. This workshop prepares participants to reduce sexual violence by:
- Increasing confidence in identifying when a threat or act of sexual violence is occurring
- Building self-awareness of different barriers to intervening
- Presenting reactive intervention strategies, that can be used to safely & effectively de-escalate an act of sexual violence
- Presenting proactive strategies, that are regularly used to advance long-term social & cultural change around sexual violence
Builds understanding of how alcohol use impacts memory, and how this affects consensual communication required for healthy sexual activity. This presentation uses a series of interactive tools and discussion to reduce commonly held misperceptions about the intersection of alcohol and consent, increase bystander intervention strategies for alcohol-related medical emergencies and drug-facilitated sexual assaults, and enhance knowledge of the resources that exist in our community that respond to sexual assault and addiction.
Recommended, but not required, for groups that have completed Consent 101.
Provides evidence-based, foundational knowledge of consent and how to practice and communicate this as a part of healthy relationships: A combination of discussion and activities help students learn the full definition of consent, how to engage in verbal and non-verbal communication around intimacy, practice boundaries, and be an active bystander when noticing that consent is disregarded.
Builds understanding of the behaviors and actions that define healthy, unhealthy, and abusive relationships. Part of this will be a discussion and part of it will involve working through scenarios in small groups. Participants also become familiar with campus and community resources that are designed to support those who are impacted by interpersonal violence.
An introduction to understanding different types of violence and abuse experienced across the lifespan, and the health-related consequences that someone may experience as a result of being directly or indirectly affected by interpersonal violence. Participants will identify warning signs of abuse, learn basic bystander intervention and harm-reduction strategies, and acquire information on local, state, and national resources that are designed to support those who are impacted in a trauma-informed way.
A revolutionary community education tool, In Their Shoes® is designed for experiential learning about dating violence. Participants become one of six characters based on the experiences of real students including sexting, pregnancy, and stalking. They make choices about their relationship and move through the scenario by reading about interactions with their dating partner, family, friends, counselors, police, and others.
Presentation Request Form Link
Please complete the presentation request form. Upon receipt, you will receive email confirmation from the Violence Awareness & Response Program.
Presentations should be requested a minimum of two weeks in advance, and are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. Due to scheduled commitments, we may not able to fulfill all requests. We reserve the right to cancel the presentation should there be minimal attendance, a significantly delayed start time, or other disruptive activity.
Join PEACE: Peer Educators Acting for Change & Equality
PEACE is a student organization that aims to teach our peers about consent, bystander intervention, and dating responsibly. We work closely with the Violence Awareness & Response Program to end sexual violence on our campus through class presentations, events, and our support group.
Skits | Learning | Advocacy | Fun!
Get involved by emailing Coumba Soumare at Coumba.Soumare@mnsu.edu. More information can be found on MavCentral RSO Directory.
