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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Alabama chapter.

The Association of American Universities 2019 Campus Climate Survey found that more than 1 in 10 students surveyed who had been in a relationship during their college years experienced intimate partner violence. That would be 3,870 people at our University right now. 

I’m glad to see the conversation about sexual assault on college campuses finally gaining traction, but something that many people don’t talk about is that the violence against women doesn’t stop there. We need to extend these conversations to include other aspects of interpersonal violence, such as dating/domestic violence, stalking, and harassment. In fact, college women experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence. 

This is a reality that all women face as they prepare for higher education: the harsh reality of, and fear of abuse. 

This violence extends to all college students, not just women, with statistics from the University of Michigan indicating that 21% of college students report having experienced intimate partner violence by their current partner, and 32% of these students reported experiencing dating violence by a previous partner. 

Survivors of domestic and dating violence miss classes, exams, and lectures because of the violence they face. So in honor of Dating/Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we are sitting out for them. 

For everyone who has felt silenced by abuse: we see you. We hear you. The silence ends here. 

So, join us here at Her Campus Alabama, along with UA Not On My Campus and End The Silence on October 20th from 12-2 on the Quad. 

Show you care. 

Show you’re listening. 

Reclaim the classroom. 

Rachel is studying political science, marketing, and public policy at the University of Alabama, pursuing a career in civil rights law and politics. When she's not busy with school and writing, she advocates for survivors of interpersonal violence through work at the Women and Gender Resource Center and her nonprofit, End The Silence. In her free time, she runs, spends time outdoors, and watches bad tv.