October is Relationship Violence Awareness Month. This month is dedicated to not only raising awareness but also offering support to survivors and promoting safe and healthy relationships.
Join us this month as we engage in relationship violence awareness month activities.
October Events
Consent Karaoke
Thursday, October 1st | 6p-8p
Nordy’s Place
Join Prevention at Pitt as we belt out our favorite songs celebrating consent and healthy relationships! Dirty sodas and other snacks will be available!
Unpacking Boundaries
Friday, October 2nd | Friday October 9th
1pm-2pm
31st Floor of the Cathedral of Learning (Prevention at Pitt)
Self-care and healing can take many forms and involve several different skills, techniques, routines, and supports. Prevention at Pitt is excited to welcome you back to the newest installment of our Unpacking series! This series will give survivors and allies a safe space to discuss and unpack our relationships, how to effectively communicate, understanding our needs and wants, learn and practice soothing skills and coping strategies, and most importantly: build community with fellow peers who are also seeking community and support. Topics and activities change with each session! Past session topics include current dating trends, love languages, and more!
No registration, just come as you are!
Sex Ed 101
Friday, October 2nd | 4-6p
WPU 548
Experiences with sex education can be varied and vast. With this in mind, we want to offer students an opportunity to join us for Sex Ed 101! This workshop run by Youniversal Education will provide attendees with a comprehensive, inclusive 2-hour sex education session. Whether you'd be joining for a refresher or to learn something new, all are welcome to attend this interactive, comprehensive workshop!
Recognize, Respond, Refer: How to Support Community Members Experiencing IPV
Monday, October 5th | 12pm-1:15pm
Virtual | Register Here
This training offered by STANDING FIRM, a program of the Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, is designed for staff and faculty of the university to build understanding of the complex issues around domestic/partner violence and how it affects the workplace and the workforce. Attendees will learn how to recognize the signs that a co-worker or student may be dealing with the realities of domestic/partner violence and how to approach and respond to them in a respectful, safe, and productive manner.
Lunch & Learn with Dr. Karen Jakubowski: IPV and Sleep
Tuesday, October 13th | 11:45pm-1:15pm
31st Floor of the Cathedral of Learning | Register Here
Intimate partner violence (IPV) encompasses a range of harmful behaviors, including physical and sexual violence and coercive control. Sleep is an unexplored behavior that abusive partners may attempt to abuse, manipulate, or control. In our ongoing NIH-funded research, we have identified ways that abusive partners directly interfere with or restrict sleep, which we have termed “sleep coercion and abuse.” We will present results from a series of qualitative interviews and focus groups with IPV survivors, advocates, clinicians, and researchers to discuss key aspects of sleep coercion and abuse. We will discuss future directions of this work, including the ongoing development of a self-report measure of sleep coercion survey and an intervention to improve IPV survivor sleep.
Talko Tuesday
Tuesday, October 13th | 5pm-7pm
31st Floor of the Cathedral of Learning
Join Prevention at Pitt for a fun, low-key event about figuring out what matters to you in a relationship and what makes for a healthy relationship! Event activities include filling out a taco “order form” where you pick 2-3 must-have toppings from categories of relationship traits. This activity will help show which traits you value most in a partner. Then, a chance to dig into a group discussion with questions starting broad and narrowing in on the specific choices you made on your own order form and whether those traits add up to something healthy! Event will be catered with tacos to eat while we discuss!
SETPoint Empowerment Self Defense Training
Wednesday, October 14th | 11:30-12, 12-1:30 workshop
WPU Lower Lounge | Register Here
Prevention at Pitt is excited to partner with SETPoint Empowerment Self Defense to bring a trauma-informed self-defense session to the 31st floor! Self-defense takes many forms, from learning to pick up clues in your environment, to setting healthy boundaries, to practicing effective physical resistance skills. Join SETpoint coaches for this high-energy session where we'll consider and practice common sense and practical ways to keep yourself and others safe. You'll leave feeling strong, energized, and empowered! SETpoint sessions are survivor-centered.
Unpacking Obsession & Other Spooky Movie Tropes
Thursday, October 15th | 4pm-6:30pm
31st Floor of the Cathedral of Learning
Join Prevention at Pitt for an evening of unpacking the things we like, the things we don’t, and the things that give us pause in some of our favorite spooky media.
We’ll have a “Rate that Trope” board where you get to decide whether a crush sneaking into your bedroom at night is S tier or E tier. You’ll get to rewrite scenes from classic movies to make them more consent centered. And there’ll be a chance to talk about movies like Obsession, Twilight, and Jennifer’s Body and what they teach us (or don’t) about healthy relationships.
Healthy Relationships and the Supernatural
Wednesday, October 28th | 12pm-2pm
Towers Lobby
Are you team Edward or team Jacob? Wait, Bella deserves a healthy relationship rooted in trust and open communication!
Join us for a fun afternoon as we discuss healthy relationships through a Halloween themed lens. Fall inspired treats will be served!
Prevention Trick or Treating
Friday, October 30th | 12pm-3pm
All over campus | Pick up a bag on the 31st Floor of the Cathedral of Learning
Join us this Halloween from 12-3pm for Campus Resource Trick-or-Treating! Pick up a Prevention at Pitt goody bag and visit participating campus offices to receive candy, resource information, and other fun giveaways! Campus maps and a list of participating offices will be available.