Deciding whether or not to intervene in a good friend’s relationship is never easy. Maybe you see qualities in their significant other that make you uneasy. Perhaps your friend’s personality has changed for the worse since they began dating. Or maybe it’s the chemistry between the two that just doesn’t seem right. But is it your place to step in? And if so, what do you say?

A consortium of nine colleges and universities in Connecticut – including the University of Connecticut in Storrs – plan to participate this fall in a program designed to help students identify those more troubling patterns – those that should raise a red flag to potential intimate partner violence or abuse. Students spotting those signs will be encouraged to speak up about the situation to their friend.

The effort, called the “Red Flag Campaign,” is designed to alert students to eight key behaviors that point towards a form of intimate partner violence. That abuse can take the form of physical, sexual, verbal and/or emotional abuse.

“Red Flag” posters raising awareness of the campaign will appear around the UConn Storrs campus from Sept. 13-16.

The Connecticut Campus Coalition to End Violence Against Women (CCCEV), created last year, is participating in this campaign aimed at stopping dating and sexual violence among college students. Southern Connecticut State University spearheaded an effort last year to create the organization and to obtain a U.S. Justice Department grant of $500,000 for the consortium. CCCEV seeks to reduce the incidence of violence against women on campus, increase reporting of the violence and strengthen prevention programs and community response to acts of domestic violence, dating violence and sexual assault awareness. Participating schools also include Central, Western and Eastern Connecticut State universities; Quinnipiac University; Trinity College; University of Hartford and the University of Bridgeport.

“This is the coalition’s first major campaign and it is designed to increase awareness on our campuses throughout the state as to what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior,” said Venida Rodman Jenkins, coordinator of UConn’s Violence Against Women Prevention Program and UConn’s CCCEV representative. “The campaign also hopes to promote bystander responsibility, encouraging friends and other campus community members to say or do something when they observe the warning signs or “red flags” for dating violence.  The startling reality is domestic as well as sexual violence is not uncommon but pervasive social ills throughout all campuses nationwide.”

Consider the following:

• Nearly one in three college students report dating violence by a previous partner, and more than one in five report violence by a current partner, according to the Journal of Contemporary Justice.
• A total of 12% of completed rapes, 35% of attempted rapes, and 22% of threatened rapes occur on a date, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
• About half of all male college students admit to perpetrating one or more sexual assault incidents during college, as reported by the journal, College Health.
• Approximately 1 in 5 female students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner, according to the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women.

During the Red Flag Campaign participating schools will prominently display a series of eight posters – each illustrating one of the “red flags” of abusive behavior. The eight behaviors are: emotional abuse, coercion, excessive jealousy, isolation, sexual/physical assault, blaming the victim for inappropriate behavior, stalking on the part of the perpetrator and stalking on the part of the victim. On the back side of each poster is a comparison chart of healthy vs. unhealthy relationships.

The following are the dates during which the Red Flag Campaign will be implemented at each of the participating schools:

UB, Aug. 25 – Sept. 3

WCSU, Aug. 27 – Sept. 5

ECSU, Sept. 13 – 16

CCSU, Sept. 13 – 16

UConn, Sept. 13 – 16

QU, Sept. 13 – 16

Trinity, Sept. 13 – 16

Hartford, Sept. 27 – Oct. 1

SCSU, Sept. 27 – Oct. 4

For more information:

Venida Rodman Jenkins

Kathleen Holgerson

(860) 486-4738