Students honor domestic violence victims

UCF students have the opportunity to honor anyone who has been the subject of domestic violence.

Recognizing October as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, UCF Victim Services is hosting the Clothesline Project, which began Wednesday and runs through the end of the month.

For more photos, view the gallery here.

The Clothesline Project is a national program that began in Cape Cod, Mass. It is a vehicle used to address violence against women and serves as a way for women affected by violence to express themselves.

Individuals can design a shirt telling their story and later hang the shirt on a clothesline displayed in the Student Union on the third floor. The shirts are to be viewed by others to encourage acknowledgment of the problem of domestic abuse.

Each decorated shirt will portray the story of a Knight who has been impacted by a violent crime, such as Josette Rudnicki, a junior and intern at Victim Services.

"As a victim and now a survivor, I want to be a support system for those who need help," Rudnicki said. "I was sexually, physically, verbally and emotionally abused. It got to the point where I would do anything and everything for him because I was afraid. I was finally able to get out because I had a good support system."

According to Victim Services, more shirts will fit inside the four floors of the Student Union Atrium. Each Wednesday in October, more shirts will be made and added to the display. Victim Services will be tabling Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to remember victims and promote healthy relationships.

"I heard about this event and thought it was a perfect way for fellow Knights, faculty, staff and community members to get their own personal message out," Joy Garcia, a junior psychology major, said. "I will be making a shirt not only to show my support for the victims, but also to help raise awareness in our community."

Victim Services also hosted Light Up the Night in the Pegasus Ballroom on Monday.

Light Up the Night is an annual ceremony held to honor victims and survivors of violence in the UCF community.

"Everyone deserves a lifetime without violence. I do what I do because so many suffer alone, isolated and hopeless. We provide hope and the options to get them where they want to go," said Christey Lynn Oberbeck, advocate at the UCF police department.

Oberbeck, who has been an advocate at UCF for the past three years, feels that students, faculty and other members of the UCF community do not need to suffer in silence.

"There are resources available. I'm available to help. An advocate from Victim Services is always available 24/7 to talk to," Oberbeck said.

She hopes that with this project people will get a visual and realize that violence is not someone else's problem, but a community issue.

"This display is meant to be a voice or an outlet for expressing the inexpressible, to incite action in those that can take action and guidance for those that need help," Oberbeck said.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of domestic violence, UCF Victim Services can be reached at (407) 823-5555 or (407) 823-2425. Those wishing to contact the UCF Counseling Center can call (407) 823-2811.