Advocates Purple Week Tackles Domestic Violence

Advocates Purple Week at St. Lawrence University is heightening awareness on campus about the prevalence of sexual violence while raising money for Renewal House. The goal for the week is to inform students and to provide events for self-care. Alongside educating the St. Lawrence University community, Purple Week is helping students learn what they can do to actually confront and support survivors.

The money raised through Purple Week events is being donated to Renewal House in Canton, NY, which provides safe houses and other resources regarding the needs of survivors. The organization has a fund for people trying to escape unhealthy or dangerous relationships. “One factor controlling many people in abusive relationships is their financial situations,” said organizer of events Sarah Bercovitz. “We are raising money for them.”

Purple Week consists of 13 events planned from Sunday, Nov. 4 to Sunday, Nov. 11. All week there are opportunities for members of the St. Lawrence University community to buy t-shirts printed with student artwork and raffle tickets for baskets. Bercovitz said that the Advocates are also providing pamphlets at their tabling events for students to pick up, which address sexual assault and consent.

This is Bercovitz’s second year organizing Purple Week. In order to incorporate and educate as many students as possible, Bercovitz said that she worked with multiple St. Lawrence University student groups and organizations. Specific events throughout the week are in collaboration with clubs such as the Outing Club, Java and the Barista.

Purple Week also provides relaxing safe-spaces and self-care events for survivors of sexual assault to share their stories. “Even though we are making gains towards understanding consent, there are always growing pains in people having to understand survivors’ pains and behaviors,” said visiting assistant professor in Gender & Sexuality Studies and program chair Jennifer MacGregor. Through creating a comfortable environment for survivors to share their stories, there is hope that students’ awareness of sexual assault will be increased in an effort to prevent these acts in the future.

MacGregor emphasized that it’s important for the Advocates to host events like Purple Week to educate the campus on what consent means, what sexual assault is and how drinking can affect what occurs between two or more people. “Without bringing awareness of sexual assault to campus, every semester, silence would seem to say, ‘this is not an issue,’” she added.