Have you ever heard of One Love? Did you know that the organization has a team on USC’s campus? Yes? No? Well it’s important that you know about it! One Love is an organization focused on raising awareness for and the prevention of abusive relationships. It was started after Yeardley Love, a student at UVA, was killed by her ex-boyfriend. Yeardley’s mother and sister founded the organization together, in memory of their lost loved one.
One Love’s chapter at USC came into our weekly Her Campus meeting to tell us who they are, what they do, and do a workshop with us. It’s their first semester on campus as an official organization, but they have been around for a while.
Related: Meet the President of One Love at USC, Mattis Collier
One Love’s workshop is called “Escalation”. It started out with a video that allowed us to see inside of an abusive relationship while watching the people on the outside of the relationship see the couple evolve. We won’t tell you everything about the video (because taking part in the workshop yourself is really worth doing!), but here are some big takeaways think about in your everyday life:
- If you see something weird, say something, even if you think it will ruin the friendship.
- No one but you should be able to have any kind of control over you.
- Abuse isn’t just physical. It’s emotional and verbal, too.
A discussion ensued afterwards to highlight some of the important parts in the video, such as “warning signs” of an abusive relationship. It was an open discussion in a safe environment that allowed people to say what they really thought about what they saw in the video and anything else that was on their mind.
Relationship abuse is something that a lot of people probably see on a regular basis but do nothing about – not necessarily because they choose to do nothing, but sometimes people don’t know what to look for. That’s why having One Love on our campus is so important. College students are at the age where relationships become a bit more serious than they were in high school. Knowing the warning signs of abusive relationships, how to get out of abusive relationships, and how to stop abusers is important for everyone to have an understanding of so that the horrible statistics can finally cease to exist.
Learn more about One Love (and the tips, advice and signs of abuse) on their website, visit USC’s One Love Instagram page, and if you’re interested in joining the organization, look up their contact information on Garnet Gate!