Victims from a domestic or sexual violence act have a place to go.

After statistics from the Clery Act 2008 Security Report showed more than double the amount of reported forcible sex offenses in 2007 than in the previous year, it has become apparent that people should know what resources are available to provide help and information to victims of domestic or sexual violence or an abusive relationship.

Among those available is Safe Passage, an organization committed to preventing or reducing domestic violence and sexual assault.

Safe Passage offers many services to victims of sexual and domestic violence including shelter for the abused and their families, short-term counseling and legal advocacy. They also offer a program called Batterer’s Intervention for people who commit violence and a 24-hour hotline – 815-756-5228.

“There’s a sense of security knowing that if anything bad happens, we’re only a phone call away,” said Cynthia Folgate, community resource director at Safe Passage.

One advantage, Folgate said, is the victims do not have to pay to receive help.

“The nice thing is, it doesn’t cost them a thing,” Folgate said. “They can come to counseling or support groups during the week and it doesn’t cost them one penny.”

Safe Passage is able to help a wide variety of clients, male and female alike.

“We do have male clients,” Folgate said. “We give them the same services that we give female clients.”

The only exception, Folgate said, is that the housing at Safe Passage is not set up for males. However, Safe Passage has an affiliation with Hope Haven, an organization in DeKalb, to provide shelter to male clients.

In order to avoid being in an abusive situation, people need to be aware of the dangers and signs of an unhealthy relationship, Folgate said. Red flags for these kinds of situations include a person’s partner becoming very controlling, verbally abusive or overly critical.

“Most relationships don’t start out as physically abusive,” Folgate said. “These kinds of situations are not healthy.”

One campus resource for students in abusive or violent situations is Health Enhancement.

“We’re more about promotion of messages to help people in domestic violence situations,” said Andrea Drott, health educator at Health Enhancement.

Services offered by Health Enhancement include classroom presentations containing suggestions to recognize the signs of an unhealthy relationship, and a program to educate and get messages out about domestic and sexual violence called Pause Off.

For some, just knowing that these kinds of services are available creates peace of mind.

“I feel safer knowing these kinds of services are on campus and in town,” said Ashley Brosky, freshman family and child services major. “You never want anything horrible to happen, but just in case it’s good these places are around.”

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