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Current
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Volume 9, Issue 1 Department honors distinguished alumna, outstanding graduates, and faculty 2007 Distinguished Alumna: Brenda Comeaux-Trahan Spousal abuse counseling center discussed at NABJ luncheon Alumnus wins Emmy for public service campaign Broadcasting alumnus documents Louisiana tragedy Broadcasting class collects data on radio listeners CNN recruits Communication interns Qatar University sends faculty envoy to UL Lafayette Alice Ferguson enters doctoral program Chief engineer Michael Gervais earns degree Alumni Profiles |
Spousal abuse counseling center discussed at NABJ luncheon
Walker,
a victim of domestic abuse herself, founded HERS after escaping from
a dysfunctional marriage to raise awareness through HERS of the impact
abuse has on others. ”Abuse
is anything that is undesirable behavior that is forced upon you,” Walker
told Communication faculty and abuse survivors, adding that abuse often
turns inward. “I started realizing there were a lot of women just like
me.” Walker
said more than eight million workdays are lost every year to the effects
of abuse.
Abuse
affects all facets of life, she said, who noted spouses are not the
only ones who suffer when they are abused.
She talked about her husband hitting her
in front of their children shortly before she left him. ”(Abuse)
affects a lot of people, but most devastatingly, it affects the children,”
Walker said, adding that children who grow up around domestic abuse
often learn that abuse is acceptable and may grow up to abuse or become
abused themselves. Recent
studies show African-Americans go through abuse more frequently than
other ethnic groups.
Walker said this is often related to social
status, as well as a perception of less opportunity for the black community
and a lower feeling of respect when unemployed. “If Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was alive today, he'd be very concerned about domestic violence, not only in the black community, but with women as a whole,” Walker said.
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One
out of every three women will be a victim of domestic abuse. None
of them have to take it. This is the message of Karen Walker,
a survivor of domestic abuse who founded HERS, Inc. in 2006. She was
the keynote speaker at a luncheon for the UL Lafayette chapter of
National Association of Black Journalists Feb. 20 at the Student Union.
HERS is an acronym for Healing Empowerment Restoration Services.
Annual
Fish & Game Banquet