Are you at risk because of who you're with? Whether you're a man or a woman, you need to attend this workshop at Cal State L.A.

Cross Cultural Centers, the Humanist Association at CSULA, the Student Health Center, and Brian López (Housing Services RA) present:

"Avoiding Dangerous Relationships"

a workshop to be presented

Monday, November 1st, 6:00-7:30 P.M.

in the Student Housing Lounge (Phase II)

Presenters:

Joanna Gaspar (Senior Health Educator, CSULA Student Health Center) and Lisa Moore (Second Degree Black Belt, Shaolin Kempo Karate, Fred Villari School of Self Defense). Joanna's presentation will include some situational role-playing, and Lisa will demonstrate some self-defense techniques.

This is a timely, relevant and extremely important topic for Cal State L.A. as well as society at large. The Cal State L.A. campus has been hard hit by relationship violence, having lost a professor in February of this year. Unfortunately, the media coverage was sparse and in some cases inaccurate, because it was revealed that the perpetrator was a friend of the victim. How many cases do we not hear about every year, because it was "only" relationship violence?

Cal State L.A. is at the crossroads of the San Bernardino (10) and the Long Beach (710) freeways. Student Housing is at the north end of the campus, at the intersection of Mariondale and Paseo Rancho Castilla. From Valley Boulevard, take Mariondale south 2 blocks to the campus. From the northern terminus of the 710, turn left on Valley and proceed to Mariondale. From the 10, take the Eastern Avenue exit and go north on Eastern, proceeding straight onto Paseo Rancho Castilla and around the campus to Student Housing.

Information: Tom Louie, (323) 227-4678, tclouie@pacbell.net

Does your boyfriend or girlfriend:

Act like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with such sudden and extreme moods he/she seems like two different people?

Make fun of you, put you down, or embarrass you in front of other people?

Have a history of bad relationships or past violence, always blame his/her problems on other people, or blame you for "making" him/her treat you badly?

Try to get you drunk, high or messed up or try to get you alone when you don't want to be?

Try to control you by being bossy, not taking your opinion seriously, making all of the decisions about who you see, what you wear, what you do, etc. ?

Talk negatively about people in sexual ways or talk about sex like it's a game or a contest?

Do you:

Feel less confident about yourself when you're with him/her?

Feel scared or worried about doing or saying the wrong thing?

Find yourself changing your behavior out of fear or to avoid a fight?

Have you:

Been told by people you trust that they're worried about your safety?

Some statistics about relationship violence:

Physical violence in intimate relationships almost always is accompanied by psychological abuse, and in one-third to over half of cases, by sexual abuse. (California Coalition Against Sexual Assault [2004]. 2004 Report: Research on rape and violence.)

Each year in the U.S. 1.5 million women and 835,000 men are raped or physically assaulted by a current or former intimate partner. (Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice [2003].)

Sexual assault is the second most common violent crime committed on college campuses. (California Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

[2001].)

5-10% of rape victims are male. (Sampson, R. [2002]. Problem-oriented guides for police series: Acquaintance rape of college students. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice.)

Approximately 1.4 million women and men are stalked during any given year in the U.S. (National Domestic Violence Hotline.)

On some college campuses as many as 35% of female students have been stalked. (California Coalition Against Sexual Assault [2001].)

Do you know what to do if something bad happens? Do you know how to leave?

BIOGRAPHIES:

JOANNA GASPAR first joined the Student Health Center staff as a student assistant while completing her MS in biology. Her career interests changed and she took the position of Health Education Assistant in 1991. Joanna then went back to school at UCLA and earned a Master of Public Health degree. She is now the Student Health Center's Senior Health Educator. She is a sexual assault crisis intervention counselor/advocate and holds certifications as an HIV testing counselor, family planning counselor, and CPR instructor. Joanna has also received training in other college health issues including alcohol and other drugs, sexual health, and weight management. In addition to her counseling and lecturing duties, Joanna is the Co-Director of Project SAFE, a campus-related violence against women prevention program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. Her mission is to help enrich and improve the lives of those around her. She believes in giving back to the community and is an active volunteer for both the East Los Angeles Rape & Battering Hotline and the Los Angeles Zoo.

LISA MOORE has a Second Degree Black Belt in Shaolin Kempo Karate from the Fred Villari School of Self Defense, where she is also a Sensei. She writes science fiction and fantasy novels in her spare time, and she is the daughter of Ron Spriestersbach, who is a leader of the Humanist Association at Cal State L.A. which co-sponsored this event.