Penn State’s Gender Equity Center will host events throughout October to bring attention to National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Programs aim to raise awareness of the issue and to engage the community in prevention efforts and show support for survivors of domestic violence.

“The theme for this year’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month is ‘Everyone knows someone,’ highlighting the prevalence of this violence,” Becca Geiger, assistant director of Penn State’s Gender Equity Center, said. “Perpetrators rely on isolation and silence to maintain power and control over victim survivors. Thus, our engagements for this October seek to shatter that silence, by making space for conversation and community, enabling every Penn Stater to get involved. No act is too small to promote a positive campus culture intolerant of violence.”

Here’s a look at the event highlights:

Clothesline Project T-Shirt Making

Monday, October 4 — 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. — Heritage Hall, HUB

Thursday, October 7 — 5 to 8 p.m. — Heritage Hall, HUB

Make a shirt for the Clothesline Project for Domestic Violence Awareness Month that will be displayed around campus and online.

To participate virtually, check the website here.

‘Empty Place At The Table’

Multiple dates throughout October — Boucke 204

As part of Centre Safe’s annual “Empty Place at the Table” awareness project, a set table is part of a memorial to honor the lives lost to domestic violence in Centre County from 1998 to 2017. To learn about the victims’ stories and lives, stop by the fully set table in Boucke 204.

MILCK: Concert & Conversation

October 4 — 7 p.m. — Alumni Hall, HUB-Robeson Center

Join a conversation and intimate concert with MILCK, a victim-survivor, musician, and activist. MILCK, also known as Connie Lim,  is a recording artist and activist who empowers others and helps them overcome their adversities and rise up against negativity and oppression. This event is hosted by Penn State’s Student Programming Association and the Gender Equity Center.

Clothesline Project Display

October 11 to 29 — Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, Pollock Cultural Lounge, Pattee and Paterno Library, Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, & UPUA Office (314 HUB)

View the shirts made during the Clothesline Project T-shirt-making sessions and help amplify the voices of those silenced by violence. The display is meant to provide support for survivors ​​and to take a stand against power-based personal violence.

Check out the virtual display here.

An Evening With Sonalee Rashatwar

October 12 — 7 p.m. — Freeman Auditorium, HUB

As the keynote speaker for both Domestic Violence Awareness Month and “Love Your Body Week,” Rashatwar will talk about body image and abuse and trauma in unhealthy and abusive relationships, as well as in relationships with society’s problematic culture. Rashatwar is a clinical social worker, sex therapist, adjunct lecturer, grassroots organizer, and survivor. They are also co-owner of Radical Therapy Center in Philadelphia.

Purple Thursday

October 21

Join Purple Thursday to raise awareness about intimate partner violence. Purple is the recognized color for domestic violence awareness. 

To participate, take a picture wearing purple and share it on social media tagging @pennstategeneq and using the hashtag #PurpleThursday2021. Participants are also encouraged to share why they support survivors.

Participants will be entered to win a Gender Equity Center swag bag. For more information check the Gender Equity Center website here.