Safe Home Informs Students About Domestic Violence Awareness
(Photo Credit Aly Wein/The Gettysburgian)
By Sarah Laud, Contributing Writer
On Oct. 21 Safe Home visited Gettysburg College to share their presence as a resource for students. Safe Home is a non-profit organization run out of the local office for the national Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in Hanover, PA. Safe Home serves as a community program provider for York and Adams county.
Though it is an off-campus organization, Safe Home is an available resource for students in many ways. Their main purpose is to provide support for those who have experienced forms of domestic violence whether on campus or at home. The support they offer includes counseling services, filing protection from abuse orders, and emergency shelters from violence. They also have a 24/7 hotline where anyone can call and talk to a trained advocate. Safe Home also has a physical office location in Gettysburg, which is a ten-minute walk from campus. Here, students can find in-person legal and victim advocacy resources.
While on-campus, Safe Home will engage in Bystander Intervention Month by hosting a “Bringing in the Bystander” training event. During this event, participants will learn to identify appropriate and inappropriate sexual and relationship behaviors and develop strategies for safely intervening in harmful situations. The event will take place on Nov. 13 in CUB 208 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Students who wish to support Bystander Intervention Month is occurring can wear purple to raise awareness and to show that they are advocates for other students on campus. For more information or if students want to contact Safe Home, the Title IX Office, located on the second floor of the College Union Building (CUB), offers detailed pamphlets and brochures.
