This coming Sunday, October 25th, members of the Criminal Justice Club, Jana’s Campaign, and the Women’s Leadership Project are hosting Jana’s Jewelry event in the Memorial Union from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Through this event, students will have the opportunity to create bracelets attached with information cards providing facts about gender-based and dating violence. The bracelets made at this event will be distributed to area middle and high schools throughout Kansas.
The main purpose of this event is to raise awareness to area youth about the prevalence of gender-based violence in today’s society and to educate them on how to prevent and handle situations involving relationship and dating abuse.
Mackenzie Orchard, a member of the Criminal Justice Club, stated the importance of middle and high school students learning about the warning signs of unhealthy relationships because many of them have never experienced any kind of dating before. She stresses that this is a very pivotal point in students’ development as adults, and if they are made aware of how to step in and stop dangerous relationships, they can help prevent any further harm from taking place.
Orchard also explained what the organizations in charge hope students at Fort Hays State University gain from this event. “We hope to start the topic of conversation about dating violence, and that students become more informed about the little ways in which they can make a difference. Even just by being informed about how to intervene in the situation- if this happens to them, a friend, or really anyone that they know. We hope to be able to stop dating violence on Fort Hays campus by just informing students about the issues.”
This event aims to raise awareness among students at both Fort Hays State University and surrounding middle and high schools.The event coordinators hope that students become better informed about the presence of gender-based violence and are educated on the proper ways to prevent it from happening to themselves and the people around them. By educating students at a young age, they hope to prevent gender-based violence in the future.