Valentines and violence:
Take a stand against sexual violence this Valentine's Day
BY CHRISTINE AMBROSIO AND ALLAN CREIGHTON
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2013http://www.dailycal.org/2013/02/12/valentines-and-violence/
Everyone knows about it — the first "V" in V-Day: the valentine, the heart. The pleasure of being in love, all the way from the casual one-night hook-up for fun to shameless flirting to being in love for the long haul; the ecstatic highs, the melt-down heartbreaks and everything in between. The thing that helps me deal with the coursework stress at Cal, the thing that takes up way too much time when I'm trying to get the group project done by 8:00 a.m. class tomorrow. Valentine's Day is partly about love and its thrills, in all types of relationships.
But it's the other "V" we might not talk about so much: "V" for violence, sometimes in the name of love. The kind of thing that happens when in relationships, from the casual to the long haul — one partner puts down, criticizes, humiliates, stalks offline or online, harasses, isolates, hits or has coerced sex without consent. Whether it happens while the relationship is going on, right after a breakup, or long after a breakup, the other "V" is also a fact of life at UC Berkeley for anywhere from a quarter to a half to more of us while we're here.
Studies show a predominance of violence against all genders and sexual orientations. However, the rates are high for women, especially in communities of color, while gay men, lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer (LGBTQ) communities of color, LGBTQ youth and transgender communities experienced the most severe forms of intimate partner violence.
That brings about emotional and physical injury, self-hate, depression and dropouts.
