Concordia Club Partners with Domestic Abuse Network
Canadian Asian Society Raises Funds, Awareness
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A quiet night at Hurley’s Irish Pub on Crescent St. turned into an intimate affair to raise awareness of domestic violence on Sept. 15 as the Concordia Canadian Asian Society joined forces with Women’s Aware to raise $400 for the support network.
Women’s Aware, a not-for-profit organization started by survivors to provide a network of support and services for domestic abuse victims, partnered in the summer with CCAS to engage students on the issue, according to co-founder June Michell.
A member of the club was also their intern, she said.
For CCAS President Jonathan Kim, reaching out to students about the issue was also important.
“What you want is to get people talking about it, because that’s one thing that people don’t do, they don’t talk about domestic violence,” he said. “[Victims] talk about it with very few people and in extreme circumstances, at least.
“If people don’t talk about their problems, it keeps building up,” he continued. “In our society in North America, it’s not something you talk about, right?”
Though Kim admits the fundraising and awareness event was not as well attended as anticipated—roughly 30 people were at the fundraiser at any one time—he says it was a learning experience for the student group.
“What we’re going to do is learn from it, go back and see what went wrong […] there’s a lot of factors to consider,” he said, though he added CCAS would like to continue working with Women’s Aware for more events.
“This is an issue that’s been happening for hundreds,” he continued. “And if you want to do something about it you have to keep pushing at it until something actually does happen.
“So, next year we’re going to try something very similar to this, and hopefully we’ll have a better turnout.”
As for Michell, she says there’s a lot of resources available for those in need. Women’s Aware has a network of places, services and people to turn to for those spouses suffering from domestic abuse.
“We need to get the younger people more involved so they can spread the message around that [abuse] is still not right,” she said.
“You’ve got to talk about it—if it’s happening with your friends, if it’s happening at home—you’ve got to talk about it.”
For more information about Women’s Aware, you can visit their website.
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