Instead of sleeping late Tuesday, more than 300 Gainesville State College students were up bright and early to tackle a very serious topic — domestic violence.

In honor of October being Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the school hosted a symposium on the subject and invited various community members to speak.

There was a representative from the Hall County Sheriff Office’s Domestic Violence Unit, the Hall County Gateway Domestic Violence Center and Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard.

“Domestic violence is about power and control,” said Robin Underwood, a therapist who works with Gateway’s residents.

“There are a lot of theories out there about the factors that contribute to domestic violence, one of the major factors is poverty level.”

Although there are instances where men are the victims, according to the symposium’s panel of experts, the majority of victims — 85 percent — are women.

“Unfortunately, studies have shown that men who have some type of blue-collar job, who didn’t graduate from high school, and is between the ages of 18 to 30 are at a higher risk (for domestic violence),” said Underwood.

“Some of the common signs of a male battering personality are extreme jealously, controlling behavior, quick involvement and dependency on the woman for all needs.”

During the symposium, Sgt. Bob Watterson shared with the students his law enforcement experiences dealing with domestic violence.

“I think domestic violence calls are the most dangerous calls that we respond to because anything in the house can and will be used as a weapon,” said Watterson. “You just never know what you are walking into.”

In order to win a case against an abuser, Watterson said the department has to collect meticulous evidence, which means taking lots of photos, some of which he shared with the students.

There were the expected photos of black eyes, bruises and lacerations, but there were also even more gut-wrenching ones that showed the end result of a murder-suicide.

“It’s graphic, but these are the things that we see,” Watterson said. “Without the proper evidence, we lose the prosecution.”
Underwood told the students doing things like continuing to attend classes could help keep them safe.

“The higher your income and education, the greater your chances of staying out of abusive situations,” she said.

Event organizers were pleased and surprised by the student response to the early morning symposium, which quickly became standing room only.

“It was so well attended; the students were really engaged,” said George Danns, Gainesville State social science professor. I think we will make this an annual event. We want to use the symposium to continue to build partnerships with the community.”