After very little sleep for some of us, and lots of sleep for others, we traveled to the Alcoa Police Department. Here we participated in a breakfast with survivors of domestic violence. Three women affiliated with Haven House all shared their stories of past abuse. This was very moving since it was our first experience one-on-one with women who had directly been impacted with the issue at hand. One of the women also brought her son and he spoke about how he has been affected knowing that his mother had been abused in the past by a prior husband, a man he has never met. The experience provided a greater sense of realness that had not been as present in the beginning parts of our trip since we were unable to have any direct access to those who had suffered from domestic violence.
In addition to the stories provided by the survivors, we were given the opportunity to speak with the district attorney and several police officers about some of their experiences with domestic abuse. The police explored several cases they had witnessed and how difficult it is as a police officer to watch these women go back time and time again to the abuser. This was something the DA agreed on and something that we have learned throughout our trip as a serious shortcoming for many victims of this violence. Being as it takes victims an average of 5-7 serious attempts at leaving before any success is found, it is often that police must respond to the calls of the same victims time and time again at no avail.
After speaking with the police and the district attorney, we were provided with an excellent lunch, courteous of the Alcoa Police Department. We then participated in a very successful activity to learn more about domestic violence called "In Her Shoes." This activity enabled us to move, do, think, and experience the lives of battered women. We did this by pairing up and receiving cards that informed us of our "situation" and were were given options on how to react to the situations we were in. For example, one card that my partner and I got was of a black woman with a successful job who was being abused by her husband. We were able to chose whether she should go to the police, talk to family, give a second chance, etc. Each choice mandated that we go to the corresponding station where we grabbed another card with the outcome of our choice and more options to chose from based on the new situation.
The activity was awesome because each story was a true story from Tennessee and it made everything feel so real. It also made you realize why these women go back to the abuser. We were able to see the effects of monetary and familial issues among others that become factors in leaving an abusive relationship. We also saw how such abuse could ruin a woman, like with my partner and I, whose victim lost her successful job in law for missing too much work as a result of the abuse. The activity was very interesting and very much engaging.
After our time at the police department, we traveled back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep. Afterwards, we went to the Catholic Student Association where we, for one, cooked dinner for them. We made my signature baked ziti along with garlic bread and salad. The CSA paid for the ingredients with the only catch being that we had to cook, which turned out to be a cool bonding experience. We were also provided yet another great meal by CSA for free, thanks! We also got some good bonding time with our friends we had made there and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
-Kelsey Pearson
Here's a video of the presentation that followed the wonderful meal we made that was paid for by the CSA.
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