On Oct. 24, the Anti-Violence Alliance held a candlelight vigil to honor those who lost their lives to domestic violence, bringing Domestic Violence Awareness Month to a close.
Small battery-operated candles were placed on the seats. Those who attended gently held the candle in their cupped hands.
Violence Prevention Coordinator for the AVA Sydney Mingori explained that the goal of the AVA is to educate people about the importance of learning about domestic violence and how that will help extend support to those who need it.
“We have to recognize that this does impact people, even if it hasn’t personally impacted you in some capacity, it has probably impacted somebody you know,” Mingori said. “It’s important for us to know about it, to stay educated so that we can show up for the people in our lives that this does impact so that we can better support them, help them out, as well as just stay educated in general on these topics.”
Mingori has worked for six years in anti-violence prevention. The candlelight vigil started in October 2020 and remains a day of somber, honor and remembrance.
She stood at the podium as the main speaker for the ceremony. The ceremony started with a presentation about the roots of domestic violence, who is affected and the reasons why perpetrators feel the way they do with their significant other. The AVA explained that domestic partners feel like they have attitudes and beliefs of entitlement over their significant other. They believe they have a right to harm their partner and not because of issues like anger management, mental health or substance abuse.
After the presentation, the names of people in Michigan in the past year who lost their lives due to domestic violence were read aloud.
Social work senior Kayla Doerhing attended the event and shared her thoughts.
“I thought it was very emotional, even though I didn’t know any of the people personally, it was still very heavy,” Doerhing said. “I mean, I feel like sometimes it’s under-talked about and people don’t realize the impact that it has, especially the holistic names just from Michigan.”
A moment of silence followed after the list of names had ended. During the ceremony, it was mentioned that victims are 75% more likely to be killed when leaving their domestic violence or intimate partner relationship.
Social work junior Collinee Butler stood beside Mingori during the ceremony and helped provide the statistics.
“I think it’s important for these names and this message to get out because so many people are dying from interpersonal violence, and so many people aren’t reaching out because they do feel shame and guilt and they shouldn’t,” Butler said, “This almost brought me to tears, it literally did when I first looked through it.”
The statistics presented stated college women, ages 16 to 24, have the highest rates per capita of intimate personal violence, 21% of college students report having experienced dating violence by a current partner and 32% of college students report experiencing dating violence by a previous partner.
“A new study of 3070 undergraduate researchers at Michigan State discovered that 62% of those 3000 people reported being physically, psychologically, or sexually abused by an intimate partner,” Mingori said. “That is over half of those 3000 people, young people who experience abusive relationships are twice as likely to experience abusive relationships in their adult relationships.”
Domestic violence can still happen to anyone regardless of age, sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, race, religion, education, faith or socioeconomic status. The memories and the names of those who died because of domestic violence will not be forgotten.
“I’ve known people in my life who have unfortunately passed away due to domestic violence, and it’s a terrible thing to go through,” Mingori said. “So I love that we can provide the space for people to grieve together, to remember those people together and to celebrate those lives as well.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, you can visit the AVA’s Instagram @fsuantiviolence, reach out to the Personal Counseling Center, contact the Title IX office or contact WISE at (231) 796-6600.