Domestic Violence Awareness Campaign and Coburn Place Fundraiser
Social Action Campaign Process and Conclusions
By Emily Mellentine and Virginia Foust
4/30/23
For our final project in the Persuasion/Media Social Movements course, we wanted to apply what we have learned in the classroom to impact our community. We chose domestic violence awareness as the social movement we wanted to focus on and Coburn Place Safe Haven as the organization to raise money and highlight it as a resource in the Indianapolis community. We decided a campaign would be the best way to go about this social action project, and followed the Social Movement Campaign section of our book (5-6) to plan and execute the campaign to the best of our abilities.
“First, campaigns are typically created and organized by social movement organizations with a predetermined goal in mind” (6). Our goals were clear from the beginning, we wanted to raise awareness to the issue of domestic violence, raise money for Coburn Place, and highlight resources for those in need of support due to domestic violence. Learned from studying successful organizations, we developed a vision and mission statement to keep our actions aligned with our goals. The mission statement reads, “Through Triota, IUPUI’s chapter of the National Women’s and Gender Studies Honor Society, we will advocate for domestic violence awareness, raise money to donate to Coburn Place, and highlight Coburn Place as a resource for the Indianapolis community.” Emily learned from interning at Girls Inc. that in order to get a goal accomplished, you need a strategic plan with tactics to reach your goals. We developed a strategic plan with the tactics to help us reach our goals.
“Second, campaigns tend to be organized from the top down, beginning with the selection of a leader and then the organization of a staff to run the campaign” (6). Since Virginia and I were co-leaders, we split up our work evenly, with some help from Triota president Eliza Corneille. We found that planning and organizing everything was very simple and fun to do, but all of the tasks were a bit overwhelming to handle. The campaign definitely could have been improved if we had a team to delegate tasks to.
“Third, campaigns have known endpoints, such as election day, an anniversary, a meeting of corporate or legislative leaders, or a projected date on which a membership or fundraising drive is to go "over the top." (6). Our social action project was due almost two months when we began, so we knew that developing a timeline would be very important for the campaign’s success. We divided the campaign into four stages: planning, content creation, campaign start, and campaign end. Our known endpoint was after two weeks of campaigning because you can only do so much promoting before it becomes annoying.
“Fourth, campaign leaders may select specific strategies to attain the desired goals” (6). For our goal of raising money, we selected three strategies. Our first strategy was to sell stickers so that we could donate the proceeds to GoFundMe. Our second strategy was to collect cash donations during our tabling event, which made up about 20-30% of our donations, and our final strategy was to share our GoFundMe with every connection we had.
“Fifth, while campaigns are carefully structured and proceed through stages, such as planning, implementation, evaluation or detection of a problem or crisis, preparation or prevention, containment, recovery, and learning, social movements do not proceed in an orderly "mechanical," step—by—step fashion” (6). From research, we know that social movements have many moving parts at different places and times. While our campaign went through stages, a lot of our strategies happened at the same time. Some would require more attention than others, but all had their time to shine.
Running a social action campaign may appear to be seamless and easily accomplished successfully. However, we learned many behind-the-scenes lessons while running this campaign. Our first lesson came when we knew that we needed more community support than we were already getting from Coburn Place. Unsurprisingly, the most successful tabling events typically have food, snacks, or beverages provided by the organization that is tabling or provided by a local business. From Virginia’s experience in her national Panhellenic sorority, Alpha Sigma Alpha, we knew that the easiest way to accomplish this task was to reach out to as many companies as possible. Emily took on the task of emailing ten different local Indianapolis and Greenwood businesses to inquire about getting support from them in terms of baked goods. Some notable companies we contacted were Rise and Roll, The Flying Cupcake, and Insomnia Cookies. Inquiring for support and free merchandise is tricky and involves tactful communication strategies. Emily’s rhetoric resulted in receiving three dozen donuts for no cost from the Rise and Roll bakery to pass out at our table and event. Because of this tremendous support, we were able to raise a sizable portion of monetary donations towards our campaign goal by offering a donut of choice for donations. Another prime example of reaching out to our community was reaching out to the Greek Islands restaurant for monetary support. Virginia had familial connections and was able to secure a $100 donation from the restaurant. In addition to that, we also received an invitation to a luncheon that they were having to support the Damien Center.
Another way that we were able to raise money towards our campaign goal was by tabling in our campus center. This involves communicating with the college to be able to get that space on multiple days so we could get the best chance at receiving donations and spreading our message to fellow students, staff, and anyone visiting our campus. luckily, this was made easiest for us by working with Triota. Being able to put together an aesthetically pleasing and attractive table is extraordinarily important to the success of a campaign relying on tabling as one of the main ways to get your message out. We spent hours working on an informative, aesthetically-pleasing, and functional table set up and a trifold with all of our information—on selling stickers and on Coburn Place volunteering. The second lesson we notably learned was that running a campaign will require more of your efforts in time management and planning than perceived. Communicating with fellow campaign managers, volunteers, and donors is essential in the success of a social action campaign. There were times when to get all of our work done, we had to shift our own schedules, work on weekends and breaks, and take extra time out of our days. Because of time restrictions, another lesson we learned is that we can’t do everything a massive corporation can do when it comes to running a campaign. Because there were only two of us, we did not have the support of multiple teams working on social media, marketing, outreach, community engagement, and all of the other things that might be helpful to have during a social action campaign. We had to consider what we needed to post, talk about, share, and choose what was most valuable and essential to our campaign. We both made a selection of content to post during this campaign time—that which ultimately helped us reach our goal of $500 by the end of our 2-week campaign. Because of our efforts as well as community support, we were able to not only surprise our goal in monetary donations but gather a plethora of tangible donations for Coburn Place.
One of the major takeaways we have from this experience is how important support is. As college students, we were limited in our reach in getting support for this campaign and getting our message out. Ultimately, with the help and support of our peers, professors, and fellow IUPUI students, we gained a great deal in our campaign efforts. This, coupled with the community support we received from Coburn Place in terms of touring and interviewing and deliverables for our tabling sessions, Rise and Roll Bakery, and the Greek island restaurant, made us successful. Not only were we able to reach our goal, but we surpassed it. Additionally, we also gained the tools to be able to manage campaigns personally we may run in our careers in the future. On this, we leave you with arguably the most important thing we learned during this process—there is nothing more guiding than the strength of shared passions and the power of communication.
Campaigns, Constant Change, and Compassion: Domestic Violence Awareness
COMM-R 478 - Persuasion/Media Social Movements
Professor Trevor Potts
Written by Emily Mellentine and Virginia Foust
March 26, 2023
Domestic violence against women has a long history of being an extensive issue in society, as wife beating was once legally permitted and socially acceptable until the early 1900s when women began gaining their hard-earned rights. While women have long been fighting for justice against domestic violence, it has only been in the last 53 years that the domestic violence movement has created radical change for survivors of DV (domestic violence). In the 1970s, women came together in the fight for racial equality. They began speaking up on domestic violence, finding that the “three major contributors to the violence against them [were] economic disparity, traditional gender role expectations, and a criminal justice system that did not hold men accountable for violence against women” (The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center). Speaking out against the systems in place encouraging women to endure physical maltreatment led to a social movement that ignited campaigns, change, and compassion for those affected. This essay will discuss how social movements aid in the fight against the pervasive issue of domestic violence by drawing awareness to the need in communities for resources such as campaigns, counseling, safe housing, programs, and support for domestic violence survivors in the United States as well as the city of Indianapolis, Indiana.
So, what exactly is domestic violence, how prevalent is the issue today, and what are the effects of experiencing domestic violence? The United Nations defines domestic violence as “a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person” (United Nations). According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States, more than 10 million adults experience domestic violence annually and on a typical day, and domestic violence hotlines nationwide receive over 19,000 calls'' (NCADV). There is a strong need for domestic violence resources in communities, especially in lower-income and black communities where individuals are affected at disproportionately high rates.
According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “45.1% of Black women and 40.1% of Black men have experienced intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner sexual violence and/or intimate partner stalking in their lifetimes and an estimated 51.3% of black adult female homicides are related to intimate partner violence” (NCADV). Systematic racism in the U.S. increases the prevalence of risk factors for domestic violence for people of color. Racism in healthcare, education, and the judicial system, creates even more barriers for people of color attempting to seek safety from domestic violence.
Survivors of domestic violence endure physical, mental, and emotional trauma that can create both short-term and long-term adverse effects on their bodies, minds, well-being, and lives. Their sense of safety has been defiled, and it can take time to adjust to different environments and regain their sense of personal safety and bodily autonomy. Common effects of domestic violence are changes in eating and sleeping behavior, sexual dysfunction, menstrual or fertility issues, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or attempts, substance abuse, and addiction (Joyful Heart Foundation). Other health effects can include nutritional deficiency, abdominal pain, other gastrointestinal problems, neurological disorders, chronic pain, disability…as well as non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases (NCADV). Due to the severity of these effects, it is essential for DV survivors to have access to support so they can begin to heal and enter recovery.
Common misconceptions of domestic violence are that it is only in the form of physical abuse and only affects the victim. However, domestic violence exists in many forms other than physical, can affect entire families, and profoundly affects children exposed to DV. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “Approximately one in five children witness intimate partner violence in their lifetimes, and children who witness incidents of domestic violence are at greater risk of serious adult health problems including obesity, cancer, heart disease, depression, substance abuse, tobacco use, and unintended pregnancies than peers who did not witness domestic violence” (NCADV). Witnesses of domestic violence are also likely to be in abusive relationships in the future. With all the extensive research on statistics and effects of domestic violence, a social movement is born with the first stage, genesis, as “restless individuals view an imperfection that will grow more severe unless institutions address it quickly and earnestly” (Stewart, Smith, Denton). Before this all came to light, it began with women simply sharing their stories and experiences with each other.
The domestic violence social movement took off in the 1970s as activists moved it into its next stages of social unrest and enthusiastic mobilization. Take Back The Night “marches, rallies, protests, speak-outs and initiatives toward ending sexual violence in all forms” (Take Back The Night Foundation) began in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles in response to incidents of violence against women. This sparked many colleges and universities throughout the 80s to continue these marches and rallies to draw attention and express outrage toward the issues happening all too often. Protestors chanted slogans, which can serve to “release pent-up emotions and frustrations and act as a verbal surrogate for physical aggression” (Stewart, Smith, Denton). Slogans such as “Stop the violence, no more silence, women fight back!” and “No more battery, no more rape, no more women hate!” to communicate key demands of the social movement.
Movement leaders assigned the color purple to represent the fight to end domestic violence by bringing in visual elements to “enhance identification” (Stewart, Smith, Denton). Many modern domestic violence organizations utilize this color, one being a domestic violence agency, Sylvia’s Place. On their website, they elaborate on the importance of this visual element within the movement, explaining, “while a color may not seem significant in the issue of domestic abuse, its ties to the roots of the women’s rights movement and its significance in granting legitimacy to survivors and raising awareness of the issue does make a difference. By raising awareness of the issue, the public stigma surrounding domestic violence can be diminished. As the public becomes more aware of the prevalence of the issue, greater resources, and support can be provided to the survivors and remembrance for the victims” (Swart).
With the strengthening in numbers and power of the social movement, “activists changed policies, laws, and handbooks, word by word, to ensure victims’ rights and consent-based definitions of sexual violence” (Take Back The Night Foundation), enacting radical change that could not have been accomplished without the momentum of the movement. The 2000s brought a focus on education about domestic violence and reached new levels of inclusivity with men and other genders coming out and identifying as survivors of DV. Looking back on the last two decades up until the present day, we can see the emergence and steady increase of resources for those affected by domestic violence, including shelters, programs, hotlines, support groups, and nonprofits. While states in the U.S. continue to support the domestic violence movement, DV resources in our city, Indianapolis, work hard to make an impact in the community.
Indianapolis has several resources and essential safe houses, havens, and communities for its citizens to escape domestic violence, support affected communities, and opportunities to get involved with helping fellow citizens. Notably, the Julian Center, Coburn Place, and Ruth Lilly Women and Children’s Center all provide various services and levels of care to communities, individuals, and families in Indianapolis affected by domestic violence. In addition to these safe havens, the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence actively runs campaigns giving information on domestic abuse and runs campaigns on de-stigmatizing violence reduction.
Campaigns are one of the ways that social movements stay relatable, relative, and transformative. The Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence is a large Indianapolis-based organization that, through continuous campaigning, has brought statewide awareness of domestic violence and given community members accessible information on local resources for counseling and safe housing. A notable campaign that encapsulated their mission is their statewide #INAgainstDA campaign. According to the ICADV’s website, the campaign's goal was to “focus on reducing stigma, engaging bystanders, and affirming survivors’ safety decisions” (ICADV). Laura Berry, Executive Director of ICADV, vividly captured the campaign's importance to the community by stating, “There is the misconception that leaving the situation is the first step; the reality for many survivors is much more complicated. This campaign challenges those beliefs and calls on bystanders to learn more about the nuances around domestic abuse and the resources available.” (Berry). This ideology is foundational in the work of the organizations in Indianapolis that work with domestic violence survivors.
The Julian Center is the largest organization supporting victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other life crises in central Indiana. As found on their website, their mission is “To help victims of domestic abuse become survivors through supportive services, education, and cooperative partnerships that foster hope, promote self-sufficiency, and rebuild lives” (Julian Center). In addition, they offer group counseling, legal assistance, referrals for job training, employment, and housing, as well as a personal caseworker for each individual or family that they have in their care. Although the facility is small, according to their website, in terms of sleeping and housing solutions, they provide a plethora of rooming accommodations, including “Adult rooms that can accommodate up to four single women and our family rooms are normally used for one family, but at times, can accommodate two small families” (Juilan Center). Julian center also makes it easy for Indianapolis, residents to find information on donating money, clothing, and other essential goods to these needy people.
Similarly to the Julian Center, Coburn Place provides transitional housing to residents of central Indiana affected by domestic violence. Coburn Place specifically specializes in giving families the tools for a fresh start. They provide family planning, budgeting, self-care, and group fitness classes. In addition, every family is provided with a case worker specifically focusing on the family's individual needs. Because many of these families come to this facility with only the clothes they are wearing and few to no personal belongings, Coburn Place provides fully furnished, stocked, and decorated apartment units. Beyond this, as families are transitioned out of Coburn Place, they are allowed to bring everything they were provided and are still supported beyond the facility's confines. As scholars of communication and passionate activists, we were honored by the opportunity Coburn gave us for an extensive tour of their facility and the opportunity to interview several of their organization’s leaders. From our tour, we learned information about how involved an average member of the community can get. They heavily rely on volunteers, donations, and community support to continue doing their work. For example, they can fully furnish and fill these apartments with goods and send families off with them because of donations and monetary support (Coburn Place). This also allows them to provide specialized care for children, disabled folks, and elderly folks.
The Ruth Lilly Women and Children’s Center is another shelter for women and children specifically that aids in sheltering and providing various services to those without stable housing and those affected by domestic violence. While they do provide some services, there is a significant difference in the longevity of support they provide. Although emergency shelters are an essential part of healing and changing the story of someone who has experienced domestic violence, it is for short-term use and doesn’t pull people out of homelessness.
The main difference between the Julian Center and the Ruth Lilly Women and Children’s Center is that only the Julian Center and Coburn provide transitional housing. In contrast, the Ruth Lilly Women and Children’s Center is defined as an emergency shelter. Transitional housing is a highly contested issue in terms of domestic violence awareness. From the interview we conducted with Drew Lacroix, the Volunteer & Resource Coordinator for Coburn Place, we gained a lot of insight into just how big of an issue the current regulations and access to transitional housing in the United States are. A big problem at the national level is that an individual can only live in transitional housing for two years for their entire life in the United States. According to Drew Lacroix, between Coburn Place and the Julian Center, there are only 45 transitional housing units available (Lacroix). This makes the waitlist to get into this transitional housing incredibly long. This is a big issue considering there is, in most circumstances, an immediate need for these services. Those trying to escape these situations of abuse actively can't wait. One of the main fears and blockades of those escaping unsafe situations and abuse is facing homelessness. Backing on this, Julie Henson, Vice President of Development at Coburn Place, added to the severity of these issues by stating that “between the Julian Center and Coburn Place, only about 10% to 15% of those who need transitional housing are covered in central Indiana” (Henson). This, in combination with the stigma still surrounding speaking out on abuse and escaping unsafe situations, makes it very difficult for those experiencing domestic violence to start over.
Although Indianapolis provides more services and access to shelters for those affected by domestic violence, there is still a great need and a lack of connection to community outreach. Since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, places all over the U.S. have seen huge jumps in 911 calls pertaining to domestic violence. In an academic journal put out by BMC Public health, they found that in relation to how many emergency calls about domestic abuse that “During the stay-at-home order, increases in mean DV calls relative to pre-COVID-19 were observed in Chicago (47.8%), Phoenix (18.4%), NYC (3.5%), and LA (3.4%)” (Babalola, T., Couch, T., Donahoe, M., et al.). With this great increase in the need for safety and programs for those affected by domestic abuse, the current change makers have to adjust their actions to the current needs of the movement. Persuasion and Social Movements: Sixth Edition outlines a need for key figures to be able to change with times to remain relevant and powerful agents of change in stating that "leaders must be at the forefront of necessary change and wise adaptation to situational exigencies without appearing to abandon movement norms, beliefs, attitudes, and values" (Stewart, Smith, Denton). Adapting to events is essential for social work to still be valuable and supportive to the communities it serves.
Along with this, a better system for community interaction and social outreach must be implemented. As a citizen, there is a need for a better path for community members to support these organizations so they can expand. In our research, a greater sense of what chapter 5 in Persuasion and Social Movements: Sixth Edition describes as pragmatism in terms of organizing and distributing information to the public would lead to the growth and strength of research offered in central Indiana (Stewart, Smith, Denton). For example, in Julie’s 8 years at Coburn Place, she has seen exponential growth in programs and assisting those once they leave. She credited this to her organization's focus on organizing and strategizing their community interactions. Although Indianapolis has grown resources and made great strides in the social movement as a whole, a strategic plan must be put into action for the continuation and strength of Indiana's domestic violence awareness movement.
Assessing the history of the domestic violence social movement and the effects that sparked change within our state, we can see how social movements aid in the fight against the pervasive issue of domestic violence by drawing awareness to the need in communities for resources such as campaigns, counseling, safe housing, programs, and support for domestic violence survivors in the United States as well as the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. Although our great city has a strong foundation for the movement to grow thanks to the early work of DV activists, there is still work to be done for a future where domestic violence is no longer a prevalent issue in our society. With a greater emphasis on community outreach and stronger efforts in organization, together, we can use campaigns and compassion to create change in our communities in the fight against domestic violence.
Works Cited
Domestic Violence Timeline - University of Pittsburgh. https://www.pacwrc.pitt.edu/Curriculum/310DomesticViolenceIssuesAnIntroductionforChildWelfareProfessionals/Handouts/HO3DomesticViolenceTimeline.pdf.
“What Is Domestic Abuse?” United Nations, United Nations, https://www.un.org/en/coronavirus/what-is-domestic-abuse.
Domestic Violence - img1.Wsimg.com. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/2b3bd338-5392-41bb-bb2a-8bdb313d7e23/downloads/domestic_violence-2020080709350855.pdf?ver=1670895016629.
“Domestic Violence & Children.” First Witness Child Advocacy Center, 19 Oct. 2021, https://firstwitness.org/resources/domestic-violence-children/.
Joyfulheartfoundation.org, https://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/learn/domestic-violence/effects-domestic-violence.
“History: Take Back the Night: Action against Sexual Assault.” Take Back the Night | End Sexual & Domestic Violence | Get Help!, 30 Sept. 2022, https://takebackthenight.org/history/.
“About Us.” Sylvias Place, https://sylviasplace.com/about-us/.
Center, The Julian. “Home One - the Julian Center.” The Julian Center - Supporting Victims of Domestic Violence & Sexual Violence, https://www.juliancenter.org/.
“Join Us.” Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, ICADV, 20 Dec. 2022, https://icadvinc.org/.
“Homepage.” Coburn Place, 14 Mar. 2023, https://coburnplace.org/.
“Family Support Services Works to Reduce the Stigma of Domestic Violence.” Greencastle Banner Graphic, 15 Oct. 2021, https://www.bannergraphic.com/story/2911953.html.
Babalola, Tesleem, et al. “Domestic Violence Calls for Police Service in Five US Cities during the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 - BMC Public Health.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 29 Dec. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14901-3.
Stewart Charles J et al. Persuasion and Social Movements. Waveland Press 1984.