Volunteers Rally to End Violence Against Women

Author: Venessa Wong Staff Writer

During the months of September and October, Forest sink-mates Shannon Linn '03.5 and Gillian Finocan '03.5 separated themselves from the utopian atmosphere of the Middlebury campus for two evenings a week to attend training sessions for the Addison County WomenSafe Hotline at Porter Hospital. Now, as certified volunteers, these women are beeper bound four nights a month from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. to receive calls from abused women across the county in need of any support, aid or advice.

"It's an important organization," said Linn. "Everyone here thinks they are safe. They don't admit that [domestic abuse] can happen everywhere … I think a lot of times the College community is negligent, and this is a very powerful issue."

According to the organization's "Herstory," the Addison County Community Action Group began service as the Addison County Battered Women's Project in September 1980. The original mission statement identified their purpose as "promoting the social welfare of Addison County by reducing the incidence of domestic violence and primarily, the incidence of abuse against women." The group, now called WomenSafe (its October 2001 name change from "Women in Crisis" occured as a result of concerns that the previous title was too degrading and implicative of victimized women), continues to provide services such as a 24-hour hotline, safety planning, support groups, counseling, advocacy and outreach programs and children's services. "We are available to provide confidential support for victims," said Linn. "Many women are too scared and feel trapped. The 'safety plans' are any support or advice we offer them."

These services are non-exclusive and are open to college students as well. "It's a wonderful foundation and resource for women," said Finocan. "Not enough college females use it to get information on help."

Efforts to prevent abuse of women extended to campus during October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, when volunteers from the College led a one-week signature campaign asking male students to sign a sheet agreeing "to foster a violence-free home." While the expedition yielded approximately 700 signatures, there remained about 12 male students who refused to sign. "I find it frightening and disturbing!" exclaimed Linn. "Some didn't want to hear our 'pitch.' One student even joked, 'What if my girlfriend misbehaves and I need to give her a whipping?' It's not funny. Thousands of women die every year from domestic violence. I think this speaks about how the school doesn't take the issue seriously."

Despite this air of indifference, students from Middlebury College still contribute a noteworthy amount of attention to WomenSafe. For example, coordinators of this year's "Vagina Monologues" production (the play, conceived by Eve Ensler '75, is performed in theaters across the country on Valentine's Day in part to condemn abuse of women) plan to donate proceeds to WomenSafe. Furthermore, of approximately 20 volunteers in the organization, 10 are from the College.

More help is still needed though. The group's Web site lists other volunteer opportunities including Court Advocates, who assist with WomenSafe's court education program and provide advocacy and support for women during final relief from abuse hearings; Support Group Co-Facilitators, who co-facilitate peer led support groups for women who have been victims of domestic or sexual violence; Childcare Providers, who provide childcare for children of women who are attending a support group or final relief from abuse hearings; Public Awareness and Outreach Assistants, who assist staff with campaigns such as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Sexual Violence Awareness Month and outreach to high school and middle school students; Supervised Visitation Monitors, who assist in providing safety for child victims of domestic violence during court ordered visits with a non-custodial parent; and Youth Outreach Presentation Facilitators, who assist staff in presenting outreach programming to teens and young adults about sexual and domestic violence issues."

Women especially are urged to train for hotline help. Finocan said that although males are barred from working with the hotline because "the last thing a beaten woman wants to hear is a man's voice," there are a plentitude of other options available for volunteering such as administrative assistance, events coordinating and contributing to their monthly publication, The Advocate.

More information about contributing is available through Feminist Action at Middlebury, and through the WomenSafe Web site at http://www.womensafe.net.