When love doesn’t end at the Old Well: A look at relationship violence at UNC
‘Sixty percent of on-campus acquaintance rapes occur in casual dating relationships’
When you think of college relationships, you probably think of one of two scenarios: either “come over at 2am” casual or Old Well proposals. But for many students at Carolina and at other universities across the country, relationships aren’t like the ones you see on “Overheard at UNC.”
According to the Department of Public Safety’s annual report, seven people experienced domestic violence in 2014 while another 10 suffered from dating violence.
Domestic violence is largely overlooked on modern college campuses. However, according to the Journal of College Counseling, one in three college women and one in 10 college men may be victims of sexual dating violence alone.
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26 students were raped at UNC in 2014. 17 of these rapes took place in residence halls and none of them were considered “unfounded crimes.”
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, approximately 90 percent of sexual assault victims on college campuses know their attacker. Meanwhile, 60 percent of acquaintance rapes on college campuses occur in casual or steady dating relationships.
Relationship abuse doesn’t stop at sexual abuse or even physical abuse. Psychological abuse is a common quality of college relationships, and cases are often wildly misunderstood and underreported.
Signs of psychological abuse can include your partner humiliating or embarrassing you, hypercriticism, unreasonable jealousy, constant calling or texting, or isolating you from your friends/family.
A University of Michigan study suggests college students face special obstacles to escaping dating and domestic violence, including that “students may feel isolated from their personal support networks and resources for help because the student is away from home for the first time” and “college students feel trapped by the social networks and/or the closed environment of many campuses.”
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Despite these challenges, Chapel Hill has many resources if you or a friend are experiencing domestic or dating violence or abuse.
The Compass Center for Women and Families at 210 Henderson Street is open from 9am to 5pm every weekday – they are open until 7pm on Thursdays. They provide a variety of crisis services and support groups.
CAPS provides psychological services, and if you are a member of the UNC Hospital System, you may be eligible for support services provided by the UNC Hospital’s Beacon Child and Family program.
If you need immediate help, please call the 24-hour domestic violence services hotline at 919-924-7122.