<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><font face="Arial" class=""><img apple-inline="yes" id="331639CF-8029-4371-A38B-9659110B375A" height="94" width="687" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:CD4AFEA0-96B0-446D-8D09-222AAAA4F6A3" class=""></font></div><div class=""><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class=""><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class="" style="text-align: center;"><font face="Arial" class=""><img apple-inline="yes" id="51DA3035-073B-4CB6-99AD-A67316C6C77D" height="564" width="1001" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:ii_ig9zou010_150ab93f46177bdf" class=""></font></div><font face="Arial" class=""><br clear="all" class=""></font><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;" class="">Dear Undergrads,</span></div><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class=""><span class="" style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font class="">One year ago, UA Student Support and Wellness in conjunction with Violence Prevention and Response (VPR) launched The Red Flag Campaign at MIT to raise awareness of intimate partner violence (IPV), otherwise known as relationship abuse. </font></span><span class="" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We brought the campaign back this year with our red flag display.</span></font></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span class="" style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font></span></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span class="" style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="" style="line-height: 17.94px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="Arial" class=""><font class="" style="line-height: 17.94px;">We installed</font><b class="" style="line-height: 17.94px;"> </b><b class="">5,660 red flags</b> on Kresge, representing the number of MIT undergraduate and graduate students who <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf" class="">statistically will experience psychological abuse</a> by an intimate partner <span class="">within their lifetime</span>. </font></span></span></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span class="" style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="" style="line-height: 17.94px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font></span></span></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class=""><span class="" style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="" style="line-height: 17.94px; vertical-align: baseline;"><font class="">Relationship abuse is defined as a repetitive pattern of behaviors to maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is a spectrum of violence and includes verbal, emotional, physical, psychological, financial, or sexual abuse. </font></span></span><span class="" style="line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">To learn the warning signs of an abusive relationship and how to help a friend who is being abused, check out the "Resouces For Seeking Help" section on </span><span class="" style="line-height: 17.94px; white-space: pre-wrap; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://redflag.mit.edu/" target="_blank" class="" style="text-decoration: none;">redflag.mit.edu</a></span></font></div><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class=""><font class=""><font class=""><span class="" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Additionally, VPR has brought the </span></font><a href="http://www.silentwitness.net" class="">Silent Witness Project</a> </font><span class="">to the student center to</span><span class=""> highlight the stories of victims who died due to Domestic Violence during this calendar year in Massachusetts. The exhibit is comprised of wooden statues shaped like people, to represent the specific individuals</span><span class=""> whose stories they </span><font class="">portray</font><span class="">. </span><span class="">The stories are difficult to read, but they are powerful and important to remember so that we continue to educate ourselves about Domestic Violence and </span><font class="">work towards</font><span class=""> </span><span class="">reduc</span><font class="">ing</font><span class=""> </span><span class="">its prevalence. </span></font></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class=""><font class="">We may think that members of our community do not or will not experience IPV / Domestic Violence, but </font><a href="http://ncadv.org/learn-more/statistics" target="_blank" class="">statistically that cannot be true</a><font class="">: </font><span class="" style="line-height: normal;">On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States -- that’s 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men within their lifetime. </span><span class="" style="line-height: 1.38;">It is up to us to reduce those numbers on our campus, and that begins with education and intervention.</span></font></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><div class=""><font face="Arial" class=""><span class="" style="letter-spacing: -0.24px; line-height: 18px;">While it’s true that relationship violence is a complex problem that cannot be solved by campaigns, the message is that there are countless steps we can take in our daily lives to stop someone who is being abusive, or to help someone who is being victimized.</span><span class="" style="letter-spacing: -0.24px; line-height: 18px;"> </span></font></div><div class=""><span class="" style="letter-spacing: -0.24px; line-height: 18px;"><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font></span></div><span class="" style="letter-spacing: -0.24px; line-height: 18px;"><font face="Arial" class="">Speak up. Speak out. Say Something.</font></span></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span class="" style="font-weight: 700; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><font face="Arial" class=""><br class=""></font></span></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class="">Thank you,</font></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class="">Tamar & Daniel</font></div><div class="" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial" class="">UA Student Support and Wellness</font></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>