The NO MORE campaign is a campaign dedicated to getting the issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse out in the open and encouraging people to be part of the solution. NO MORE was launched in 2013 and currently it has campaigns all across the United States in addition to being the official domestic violence partner of the NFL. The official website of the program includes several statistics to further its cause, stating that one in two women and one in five men experience sexual violence at some point in their lives. Among these, one in four women and one in six men experience it before the age of 18. Also according to their website, their goal is to “equip people and organizations with free, customizable tools that can be leveraged to increase awareness, education, prevention, and funding for domestic violence and sexual assault in their communities.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 17, the C Building lobby at Bellevue College hosted a system for people to sign NO MORE pledge cards, where they could state why they’re against sexual assault to help promote Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This was supported by the Associated Student Government at the college as well as the Office of Student Conduct so that the event would extend beyond students to staff and faculty. This included a tabling event for students to be able to talk about their experience and learn what resources are there for them at the college. One of these is the Title IX office in room C227 which, while initially meant to prohibit gender discrimination in education, also extends to sexual violence. In a report to the college about these topics, Title IX prohibits any sort of retaliation on the subject as well as promises to look into any reports about sexual violence.
Joedy Morrow, environmental and social responsibility representative for ASG, spoke on why the discussion started. “We found out that there needs to be some education campus-wide about what this subject is about, specifically that this isn’t just a woman’s problem. This affects men and children and however someone identifies,” she said. Morrow quoted multiple pledges that spoke along the lines of “because women’s lives matter,” or “I respect women too.” Also on the subject, the Marketing and Public Relations Representative at ASG Erika Lamothe mentioned, “I’ve had some people say that ‘Oh, think about prisons,’ and no, it’s not just men in prisons. It’s men out in the world.”
“Basically, this campaign taught us that there needs to be more education, that way people are led to the right resources and that people can find help, so us as ASG will try to see what we can do that staff, faculty, administration and Student Programs are all educated on the subject,” Morrow added. Lamothe spoke about an idea to further such education among the people, saying, “We could have people come up and speak from different offices like Title IX and Lifewire, where they come in and give speeches and invite people to join the conversation and have a Q and A.”
The pledges themselves garnered a response from ASG, with Lamothe including that “it’s letting people think about what they’re writing. Even though they just say they care, they’re still thinking about it in their writing.” While anonymous, people included such thoughts as “because safety is a basic human right,” “because we are worth it,” and “because no person should feel lesser than or decimated.” Morrow stated that she says “No more” because “this is everyone’s problem. One person is too many.” Lamothe added, “I’ve had personal experiences in the past. My best friend has experienced this and I can’t fathom the pain other people feel from it. I want to help as much as I can, not just because it happened to me but because I want the world to be a better place.”