Nadia Greene
\n<\/span>Staff Writer<\/span><\/p>\n

While many students, staff and alumni at Jackson State University are celebrating the founding of the institution and the joy of homecoming, October is also a time to bring awareness to the serious issue of domestic violence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the National Statistics Domestic Violence Facts Sheet:<\/span><\/p>\n

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• On average, 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
• 1 in 7 women and 1 in 25 men have been injured by an intimate partner\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
• Intimate partner violence accounts for 15 percent of all violent crimes<\/span><\/li>\n
• Women between the ages of 18-24 are most commonly abused by an intimate partner.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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  Domestic abuse is not limited to romantic relationships but also familial relationships as well. The abuse can deal with physical, emotional, sexual, psychological, or economic trauma. It has no connection to specific gender, race, sexual orientation, or religious specific.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

  Some of the most common signs of domestic abuse include:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. \u00a0Your partner finds enjoyment in embarrassing you in front of others.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Your partner downplays your accomplishments to keep control of feelings .\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Your partner becomes more aggressive (pinching and shoving).<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Your partner begins to follow you to make sure you\u2019re telling the truth.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Your partner pressures you into things sexually.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Your partner places the blame on you for small things to ignite a reaction.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Your partner makes you feel like there was no way out of the relationship.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     A senior music education major from Atlanta, Ga. recounted her experience with domestic abuse in her past relationship. She said it was a blindsiding experience that she never saw coming.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

     \u201cIt\u2019s something you ignore until you get in that situation yourself,\u201d the Georgia native said. \u201cYou pass judgment saying, oh, that\u2019ll never be me. When it does all you can think is, oh my God, this is happening to me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

     As she recounted the events that took place in the relationship, she acknowledged that it gradually got worse as time went by.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

     \u201cHe was very sweet in the beginning, then it started off small like he would grab me up when I didn’t listen to him all the time or when we argued. That’s how it was for a while because most of it was mental in the beginning,\u201d she said. \u201cHe’d make it seem like nobody would want me or people didn’t have my best interest at heart. My friends were my enemies and making new ones was something he didn’t like me to do.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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     She added, \u201cAfter a while, it got to me and I started to isolate myself from everybody, including my family. That’s when things took a turn for the worse. That’s when I met the real man behind the mask,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

     She expressed regret after she isolated herself from her friends and family. There were very few moments when she felt safe in her own relationship. She said she felt a sense of relief when she was forced to return home and could leave her boyfriend.<\/span><\/p>\n

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     \u201cHe would beat me on a regular basis and it was easy because I was isolated from everybody, but when people were around, we were really good at hiding it. Part of me wanted somebody to catch on but I didn’t want anybody to get hurt on account of me so I suffered in silence,\u201d she recounted. \u201cI had to move out and go back home but after a while, I started to feel safe. He\u2019d blow up my phone or pop up to my job so I had to get a restraining order on him and that was the scariest part because I didn’t know what he’d do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n