ASU club One Resistance hosted an event called “Womxn Helping Womxn” on March 20 at the Tempe campus to collect donations for domestic violence service organization, Sojourner Center, and educate students on the issue. The donation drive is a part of several celebrations of Women's History Month taking place on campus throughout March.
One Resistance is a “socio-political club fighting for social justice and social equality,” according to the club’s executive director Tabark Abdelhabib, a public service and public policy sophomore.
According to the Arizona Department of Economic Security, there are 7,428 adults and children receiving shelter and transitional housing for domestic violence cases.
The club partnered with the Sojourner Center, a domestic violence center in central Phoenix, and collected various items such as clothing, toiletries and feminine hygiene products.
"They get a lot of (clothing) donations but mostly from older people and that didn’t really pertain to their community as the shelter has a younger demographic," Abdelhabib said. “That’s why it’s nice having college students wanting to donate because it’s (clothes) they would want to wear out and it would help them feel normal in a sense that they could be part of society.”
Students who volunteered at the event helped organize clothes that were donated and paint notebooks with inspirational quotes and letters.
Chris Camacho, a public service and public studies sophomore, donated multiple items at the event and said he believes that all ASU students should volunteer for social justice causes.
“Just because it doesn't affect me directly doesn't mean I shouldn't get involved,” Camacho said. “When you're tackling an issue like this one you have to approach everyone. ASU is so big that we should be involved in social and public issues because we have such a big voice.”
Sojourner’s donation and volunteer program manager Cheryl Hurd said that the domestic violence organization’s services include legal help, educational programs and immediate shelter for domestic violence victims.
"For ASU students we want to let them know that we are here to help, but you are also part of the solution,” Hurd said. "You're already being involved by learning about it. By being informed you are better able to protect yourself and to protect others.”
One Resistance was established this semester after its founders interviewed other students and realized the majority didn’t seem to care about politics. This led to the club’s main goal, which is to “shift the negative connotation linked with politics and getting people to care about issues that matter," Abdelhabib said.
The club’s finance director Zarella Vasquez, a justice studies junior, said that the event aimed to be gender inclusive by using the term womxn, meaning “all people who identify themselves as women are more than welcome to come and be included in the event.”
The organization is planning similar events for the near future, including a poster-making party advocating for gun control in the wake of the “March for Our Lives” movement.
“Expect a lot of action oriented work from us,” Vasquez said. “We don't just like to talk and discuss about problems; we like to work against them. By standing together we can create a loud voice and see some type of change.”
Reach the reporters at afalero1@asu.edu and wmelhem@asu.edu and follow @afalero18 and @wissmel on Twitter.
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