http://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/upimage/VF_I18F_005.pdf

Media

Part of BSU meeting sparks 'domestic' debate, February 11, 2009

Text

BSU meeting
sparks
'domestic'
debate

Societal factors addressed
I

By ANDREA HEIMBROCK
Staff Writer

According to national
one
statistics, almost
third of women in the
United States report that
they have been abused
by a spouse, boyfriend or
lover.
At a meeting hosted by
the Black Sn1dent Union
(BSU), a large crowd of
students openly discussed
domestic abuse.
At the beginning of the
meeting, sounds of out­
rage and disbelief echoed
through the room as a
clip ofa "20/20"broadcast
from abc.com portrayed
an instance of actual
abuse in which a mother
was beaten in front of her
children.
"The situation in the
video was awful," said
Cassandra Bowens, a
junior social work major.
"The fact that the man
forced his 13-year-old son
to video tape the beating
was terrible."
Not only are women
all over the United States
being physically, psycho­
logically, sexually and
even religiously abused,
according to BSU Presisee BSU page 2

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BSU from page 1
dent Ekua Mends-Aidoo, but
there are women on campus
that are abused as well.
"Domestic abuse is very preva­
lent on campus, and we need to
be aware of this," Mends-Aidoo
said.
A poll taken among those who
attended the meeting proved
Mends-Aidoo's point. Almost

one-fourth of all the attendees
raised their hands when asked
if they knew someone, or were
someone, who was abused.
According to the broadcast,
a woman is physically abused
every 15 seconds.
Debates regarding the reason
why women are abused were
intense throughout the two-hour
meeting.
Someone
in
attendance
claimed women asked for atten­
tion even though they were not
single by dressing provocatively.
This in turn, they suggested,
made the women susceptible to
abusive men. Several women in
the room immediately took the
defense and heated discussion
broke out.
Ricardo Lopez, BSU activities
coordinator, presented another
idea.
"Fear might be a factor," Lopez
said."If a woman threatens a man
in such a way,it's as though she's
threatening his masculinity. This
will cause fear and; in return, he'll
abuse her so that now she's the
one who's afraid."
Another
highly
debated
point involved the inability of
the woman in the video clip to
leave her husband.According to
Mends-Aidoo, it normally takes a
woman seven tries to leave her
. abuser.
.
Some attendees believed that
it takes so long for a woman to
leave her abuser because the
women are constantly condi­
tioned to believe what their
husbands tell them and believe
that they are at fault. Even after
splitting up from their abusive
spouse, women still expressfear

t:

of their ex.
Despite the movie and the
heated discussion, the belief that
domestic abuse is not that com­
mon was still held among several
attendees.
Lopez, who is also a junior
communication major, believes
that abuse is _becoming less com­
mon.
"Women are progressing," said
Lopez. "Abuse is happening on a
lesser scale."
However, Mends-Aidoo strong­
ly cautioned against such ideas.
"Abuse is prevalent and that's
why we decided on this topic
for the meeting," he said. "People
need to know."
Many who participated in the
debates suggested that the vol­
ume of abused women is not
advertised because women are
normally too afraid of their dan­
gerous boyfriend or spouse to do
anything about the situation.
Mends-Aidoo suggested that
anyone who is a victim of or a
witness to a case of abuse should
contact the Wellness Education
Services at 114 Student Union.
Abuse may be hard to prove,
considering that the suppressed
women will lie for their signifi­
cant other. That is all the more
reason to contact the authorities
if there is any suspicion of abuse,
according to members of the
BSU.
"You never know who might
be involved in abuse," Mends­
Aidoo said. "If you see signs,
don't ignore them and take pre­
cautions. Contact someone. You
might save somepne's life."

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