Both the physical and emotional trauma of domestic abuse are present in Ames, and the month of October is set aside to increase awareness of the issue.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month begins Wednesday and will include a variety of programs and events to increase awareness about domestic violence happening locally in our neighborhoods and communities.

“October is the month that we can bring extra attention and recognition to the issue of domestic violence,” said Julie Wooden, sexual assault services coordinator for the ACCESS Assault Care Center.

More than five crisis calls come into ACCESS every day. The shelter houses about 200 women and children each year, mostly victims of domestic violence. Wooden said the numbers make it clear — domestic violence isn’t out there somewhere. It’s happening next door, across the street and across town and it doesn’t always show itself in visible bruises.

“The reality is that domestic violence does take a lot of different forms and that the actual physical part may not happen very often. Emotional or psychological abuse may occur much more frequently, even daily,” Wooden said.

Wooden said many of those killed in Iowa as a result of domestic violence have been women that were separated from their partner, divorced or had a restraining order placed against their attacker.

“Research has shown that because domestic violence is about power and control, when a woman tries to leave it becomes the most dangerous time for her,” she said.

Several days and weeks within the month of October are designated for specific purposes. October 19—25 is the Week Without Violence, a national YWCA occurrence, said Judy Dolphin, executive director for the YWCA.

A separate area of interest is designated for each day of the week, she said.

“[The Committee Against Violence] looks at each group’s mission and then decides which one should take the lead on which day,” Dolphin said. “The YWCA is taking responsibility for “Making Our Children Safe” on Monday. That obviously has a connection to domestic violence.”

YWCA volunteers will go to local child care centers to talk with young children about violence.

“We’ll talk to little kids about what their world would be like without hurting, how to make their lives less violent and less conflict-oriented and how to find ways to solve problems without hurting people,” Dolphin said.

The Week Without Violence is a cooperative effort between various campus and community organizations, said Katie Pope, chairwoman of the Committee Against Violence and graduate student in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies. “Not everyone pays attention to what happens at the [Sloss] Women’s Center or at [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Student Services] or different organizations,” she said. “By having a week of partnership between organizations, hopefully it will get the word out to a broader audience and we can find something that a majority of students are interested in.”

Wooden said ISU students can take an active role in Domestic Violence Awareness Month by educating themselves about the realities of domestic violence and related issues, participating in planned activities, volunteering at a domestic violence shelter and asking a guest speaker to come into their class, greek house or residence hall floor to address concerns and answer questions.

Additional events and activities are still being planned for the month, Pope said.