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Franki Giordano 1

Plan of Action

At the beginning of this semester, when this project was announced I was lost
and without direction. I was confused, flustered and didnt think I could get through it,
much like the feeling victims of domestic violence. But with strategic planning, time, and
research I have not only put much effort into this project but I have learned a lot more
than I expected, all the while educating others. The civic issue I choose to raise
awareness and research about is domestic violence. According to the United Nations
Declaration, violence against women includes any act of gender-based violence that
results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to
women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty,
whether occurring in public or private life (United Nations, 1993). Although I had a
personal connection to domestic violence prior to this, I wasnt as knowledgeable as I
thought I was.
A few months ago, my plan of action was to focus on social media. Our
generation is so up to date with technology and doesnt for one minute stop checking
their social networks. After researching previous studies, I decided it was in the best
interest for both myself and my peers to educate them by word of mouth. The Pixel
Project was one of the most successful projects I found while researching and they
were so successful because of their action being so straightforward. They spent a lot of
time raising awareness and donations by speaking to people directly. They have over 50
volunteers in four different continents!

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With that being said, I followed in the Pixel Projects footsteps and reached out
first and foremost to people I knew. I started with my family, when I went home last
weekend for my birthday. Right before our appetizers came out for dinner, I briefly told
everyone what I had been working on all semester. I explained based on my research,
how serious domestic violence is, what we can do to stay updated and how we can help
prevent it. Before I knew it, my project was the talk of dinner.
After persuading my family of my message, I moved along to my co-workers. It
was a bit harder to capture their attention being as we were at work. Right before the
shift, I again explained what I had been working on all semester, and what we can do to
prevent domestic violence. The biggest impact I felt was with my co-workers at Ale
House. The entire shift we had a note on our dry erase board that said Raise
Awareness. We also all wore a red color pop to show we were all joined together for
something. A few customers asked why we were all somewhat matching and with
explaining, we raised more awareness.
Ive reached out to more than a dozen people and raised awareness to what I felt
was the best of my abilities. After seeing how much I accomplished over such a short
period of time, how interested people were to hear about what I had to say, and knowing
I am making a difference is so rewarding. I plan to continue to spread awareness by
creating a brochure. The brochure will feature facts, ways to help, and how to recognize
domestic violence. The brochure will be an affective way to get my message across to a
large group of people. I plan to not only have it hung up at both of my places of work,
but with my previous connection to Greek life I will reach out to different sororities. I will
speak a few girls from each house and let them know what I have been researching

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about all semester. I will then ask them to keep the brochure around the house and
share with their sisters how serious this issue is. As a woman, domestic violence is
something we need to be educated and aware of. According to findcounseling.com
Nearly one in every three adult women experiences at least one physical assault by a
partner during adulthood. Approximately four million American women experience a
serious assault by an intimate partner during a 12 month period. Though woman are
not the only victims of domestic violence, I feel reaching a house of woman is an
effective way to spread awareness.
I used Burkes theory using identification to address my civic issue. I identified
with people who already play a role in my life. They respected and recognized me as
trying to persuade them of something and capture their attention. I also identified with
people because most share the same morals and values as I do, and recognize how
wrong and troublesome domestic violence is. They heard me out and were open to
hearing what I was so passionate about this semester. I also used ethos, pathos, and
logos while speaking to my audience. When raising awareness to both my co-workers
and my classmates in a public setting, I presented myself as qualified to speak on this
topic using ethos. I let them know how serious it was to me, not just my grade. I
contributed to logos because all my information about domestic violence was not just
my knowledge of it but the research Ive conducted. Lastly I used pathos appealing to
peoples emotions considering how serious domestic violence is. Pathos worked best
with my family because they saw how impacted I was about the issue. This is the first
project Ive actually felt engaged and connected to, I felt I actually did make a
difference.

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After personally raising awareness, my biggest hope is that the people I shared
my message with dont forget about it. Maybe one day they are at the UCF library and
hear what sounds physical; they know what to do and how to approach the situation to
help someone, that they no longer ignore the problem because it isnt their own. Or
maybe one day they are able to recognize the beginning stages of a domestic violence
relationship they are involved in, based on how someone is talking and treating them. I
was so moved by this project that I will not stop raising awareness, even if it is just a
casual conversation with a stranger. The pictures I took with my co-workers, family, and
friends while raising awareness will still be up on my facebook even after my
presentation to the class. Passion and hard work of students can really make a
difference and I hope to continue in doing so!

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Works Cited
EXPLAINING THE RECENT DECLINE IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (n.d.): n.
pag.Explaining the Recent Decline in Domestic Violence. AMY FARMER and JILL
TIEFENTHALER. Web. 29

Mar. 2015.

Newton, C.J. "Domestic Violence: An Overview." Domestic Violence Statistics:


Prevalence and Trends ~ FindCounseling.com. Find Counseling.com, Feb. 2011.
Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
"Putting Women First." Thirddoc (n.d.): n. pag. Ethical and Safety Recommendations for
Research

on Domestic Violence Against Women. Department of Gender and

Women's Health. Web.

29 Mar. 2015.

"TED Talks on Domestic Violence | Live Your Dream." Live Your Dream.
Liveyourdream.org, 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
"The Pixel Project's "16 for 16" Campaign." The Pixel Project. The Pixel Project, 2010.
Web. 22 Mar. 2015.
Grohol, John M. "What Causes Domestic Violence?" Psych Central.com.
Psychcentral.com, 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2015.

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