After organizing a month full of activities and events aimed at eliminating abuse, the Women’s Resource Center hosted a candlelight vigil Thursday in front of the Alma Mater to honor National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

The event strived to commemorate survivors of domestic violence and to provide a platform for those who wished to share their story.

“I really love that it is a confidential resource,” said Megan Barritt, a junior in Social Work and an intern for the Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “Some people don’t want to share their stories with everybody, so this gives people a way to share their story without feeling obligated in any way.”

The vigil’s purpose was to raise awareness by lighting candles for survivors.

“It’s very difficult for people to realize that domestic violence is not just physical,” Barritt said. “It’s very emotional as well.”

The Clothesline Project, a national organization, also put a display on scene where clothes of different colors were used to represent different victims of domestic violence.

White represented women who died because of violence. Yellow or beige distinguished women who were battered or assaulted. Red, pink and orange honored survivors of rape and sexual assault.

Blue and green represented survivors of incest and sexual abuse. Purple and lavender highlighted women attacked for their sexual orientation. Lastly, black served for those attacked for political reasons.

Stephanie Yi, a senior in LAS, said having October dedicated to awareness of the problem speaks to the ignorance surrounding domestic violence.

“The scale of the awareness that is given isn’t proportionate to the scale that is actually happening in reality.” said Yi.

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