As part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Green Dot will be hosting a lecture on domestic and relationship violence.

Beverly Gooden, social activist and creator of the #WhyIStayed movement, will present the lecture “#WhyIStayed: Domestic Violence as a Community Issue” at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

The lecture is the first of a two-part event. The first part is the lecture with Gooden. Gooden will be talking about her experience with violence, which she will connect to the relationship and influence of domestic violence on communities and how to address these issues.

The lecture is open to everyone, including students, faculty, staff and the Ames community.

The second part of the event is a luncheon with Gooden on Wednesday and is only open to faculty and staff. The Luncheon is for staff and faculty to gain knowledge about how to support their students who are survivors of domestic violence and to learn to be more comprehensive about how to deal with these situations.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so the essential key of the lecture is to bring awareness of the issue to people who are not conscious of it as well as to familiarize people with its impact on the community.

“Hopefully, this will empower people to do something within their community,” said Jazzmine Brooks, the equity and inclusion coordinator for the Office of Equal Opportunity. “The main purpose of it is to encourage and increase folks’ likelihood of intervening in situations that they may feel would be harmful to another person.”

Brooks said domestic violence can affect individuals more than just physically; it can affect people internally as well.

“Some people think these issues are only revolved around relationships, but it can also be done around friendships, between roommates or anyone,” Brooks said. “ A lot of people don’t see themselves in these situations because it isn’t similar to anyone else’s story.”

In her lecture, Gooden will talk about what domestic and relationship violence means for men, women, children, the LGBTQIA+ community and individuals with disabilities.

“Having more conversations about it makes it less stigmatizing,” Brooks said. “Ask your friends how they’ve navigated relationships or how their relationship is going […] If you want to be an advocate, volunteering your time at places like ACCESS (Assault Care Center Extending Shelter & Support), ISUPD (Iowa State University Police Department), attending Green Dot training [and] sharing and posting things — all of that visibility is important.”