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May 4, 2004
Maricopa marches in effort to
curb domestic violence
Francesca van der Feltz
Mesa Legend
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Dan Smith Mesa Legend |
| Participants in the Walk to End Domestic
Violence make their way through downtown Phoenix. |
Thousands of men, women and children –
including 29 participants from Maricopa Community Colleges – traveled
a three-mile circuit around Wesley Bolin Plaza in downtown Phoenix April
24, in the second annual Walk to End Domestic Violence.
The representatives from Maricopa joined the rest of the 3,800 participants
in the walk.
“We had a good time,” said Delia “Dee Dee” Tapson,
captain of Maricopa Community Colleges’ team and a district representative
for the Women’s Leadership Group, which organized the community
colleges’ participation.
Employers Against Domestic Violence created the event to promote awareness
and raise funds through entry fees and pledges that go to various organizations
working to end domestic violence and to help victims.
The EADV works to make employers aware that they are a key force against
domestic violence, to help employers develop policies against workplace
violence and to educate employers on what they should do if their employees
are in an abusive situation, said Tapson, who was on an EADV committee
for one and a half years.
“A lot of time employers really don’t realize how much it
affects their bottom line,” said Tapson.
“We are willing to work with our employees if they have those kinds
of issues,” Tapson added, explaining that the Maricopa Community
Colleges have been a part of the EADV since its beginning.
Although she was never a victim of domestic violence, Tapson said she
walked in the April 24 event because she knew people who were.
“This not only impacts the individual; it impacts the family, and
it impacts the community, and if they have a job it winds up impacting
that as well,” said Tapson.
“They need to know there’s someone on their side,” Tapson
added.
Tapson said there is no cost to join the EADV.
Judy DuSell said she had seven students from her South Mountain Community
College Silence and Abuse Counseling class participate in the walk in
order to develop civic responsibility and to gain academic learning through
a community experience.
“I can teach them so much academically, but the community teaches
them community resources and community awareness,” said DuSell.
“It allows them to … build their tolerance,” DuSell
said, adding that she wanted the Walk to End Domestic Violence to motivate
students to participate more and gain insight.
“The emotional part I can’t always grasp in a classroom,”
DuSell added.
At the event, some of the displays showing the far-reaching impact of
domestic violence powerfully affected the students and helped them understand
the reality of the situation and the people involved, DuSell said.
“These are real people, real children,” DuSell added, saying
the event broadened the students’ perspective.
“(Domestic violence is) affecting us all. You’re choosing
to participate or not if you’re in the community,” said DuSell.
“(A) student told me that she wanted to see if we
could continue this and get more students to sign up,” said DuSell.
Both Tapson and DuSell said they want to get more students involved.
“We’re community college … The people who use our resources
have to give back to the community,” said DuSell.
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