Students speak out against domestic violence

For the past three years students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City have strived to give a voice to domestic violence victims.

Students continued their efforts with the “These Hands Don’t Hurt” campaign in October.

The program has students and faculty make hand prints on a large poster, pledging to work against domestic violence.

The poster was on display in the Health Science Building on the UMKC campus on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Some students just traced their hand, some signed it, and some wrote pledges of nonviolence on the palm. Even faculty signed it, including Shelly Janasz, the Director of Student Affairs for the School of Pharmacy, who wrote a pledge against violence on her traced palm.

The program was started by Alpha Kappa Lambda, a fraternity in Pennsylvania. Kerra McCorkle, violence prevention coordinator for the UMKC Women’s Center, said the program coincides with Domestic Violence Month, which is in October.

“Our goal is to advocate, educate and give support services to women in the community and on campus,” said McCorkle, who has been around the UMKC campus since her undergraduate work.

She said the Women’s Center picked up the program because they wanted to promote awareness and engagement in the community. She also said the Women’s Center passed out evaluations of the program to see how students were responding.

Brandon Bone, who helps with the Women’s Center as a part of a work study program, said he got involved to make a difference and promote the equality of women.

“It’s one of the few places on campus you can work for where you can have an impact socially,” Bone said.

Many students had already traced their hands on Wednesday, which was the third stop for the poster on the UMKC campus. One student drew a picture of a stop sign on the hand, another used glitter paint, and several wrote phrases like “Speak out!” and “My hands were made for LOVE!”

The poster will have one more stop on Oct. 30, in Royall Hall. After that, it will be put on display at the Women’s Center, located on the first floor of Haag Hall, Rockhill Road and 52nd Street.

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