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October is the month of domestic violence awareness and it’s important for everyone, especially women, to be aware of the signs of domestic violence and raise awareness to combat this problem.

A workshop was held at the Creveling Lounge on Tuesday afternoon by Shepherd’s Door, a domestic violence resource center.

Linda Offray, founder of Shepherd’s Door, greeted the room of about a dozen attendees and played a documentary she produced with stories from domestic violence survivors, which includes a former student of Pasadena City College. The documentary lasted the majority of the workshop.

“The purpose of having this workshop at PCC is to raise awareness about domestic violence and because of the statistic rate with domestic violence amongst college students. I think the information is very vital for them to have,” said Offray.

The documentary informed everyone about the different types of domestic violence such as emotional, verbal, financial, and physical. It’s important for people to know the signs and be careful with victims because in many cases it can be dangerous.

Shepherd’s Door was founded in March of 2000 and is program that focuses on helping victims in crisis with a domestic violence system. Their mission is to break the cycle of domestic violence through relationship education, youth violence prevention awareness, financial empowerment and direct rescue intervention.

Shepherd’s Door holds workshop projects called “healing art” where people choose drawings that relate to their emotions as a victim.

“This is a healing workshop. It allows for women to express how they feel. It brings things out. At the end they get to share what they’ve done and helps the other woman as they go around the room,” said Shirley Jackson, a Shepherd’s Door volunteer.

Learning the signs of domestic violence is helpful. One can’t always look at a person and identify that they are a victim.

“I’m a domestic violence survivor. I know that all the things that they teach, I’ve never experienced anybody helping me cope with whatever feelings that I’ve had from my past abuse in the way of healing art,” said Yuritzi Morales, another volunteer.

The audience was provided with a domestic violence wheel, which shows a wheel of equality and a wheel of violence. All of the information given was recommended to be share with others.

“It’s always a pleasure to spread the word of domestic violence. When we talk about these things, we talk about all relationships, “ said Offray. “Domestic violence happens in all walks of life, so this information is very vital to all people, male and female.”

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