When Anna walked out in a yellow dress covered in blood caused by her abusive boyfriend, people got a real sense of how serious dating violence can become.
As a part of Wellness Week, the Wellness Center co-sponsored a dramatic monologue addressing dating violence Thursday at the Union Colonnade Theater.
The performance was a one-woman monologue depicting the decline of a relationship, which showed warning signs up to her death.
Jennifer Brown, who went to Salem State College, portrayed the tragic true story of Deana Brisbois — “Anna” in the play — a 24-year-old Massachusetts native who was killed by her abusive boyfriend of two years.
Kim Munro, wellness education coordinator, said she first saw the performance while at a conference at the University of South Carolina and decided to bring it to LSU.
After the performance, Lindsey Baxter, national program and training coordinator for Deana’s Fund, opened the auditorium for discussion.
She pointed out the early warning signs of an abusive relationship displayed in the play.
Anna’s boyfriend bought her a cell phone as a present, Baxter said. This way, he could constantly check up on her.
He would not let her order her own food and would take her fork out of her mouth when he would “decide” she was finished eating, Baxter said.
When Baxter was working at a Rape Crisis Center in Boston, Mass., she said she had a patient whose boyfriend would only let her go to the bathroom when he wanted her to go.
Once the woman got out of the situation, she had to retrain herself to know when to go to the bathroom, Baxter said.
“Imagine that — something as human as going to the bathroom — controlled,” she said.
However, Baxter said men also can be victims of dating violence. While at the crisis center, she saw some men who had been victims of sexual abuse and dating violence.
Other warning signs seen in the play included constantly having to be together, checking the woman’s work schedule, not allowing her to be around other guys, getting insanely jealous when she was around another guy and calling her derogatory names, Baxter said.
Despite the warning signs, Anna stayed in the relationship because she loved her boyfriend.
“Love is a powerful reason to stay in an abusive relationship,” Baxter said.
According to the Wellness Center, one third of high school and college-age women experience some form of dating violence. Every 15 seconds, a woman is abused by her significant other.
Out of these abusive relationships, 30 percent of the abusers use weapons, and 90 percent of the victims killed by their partners were stalked prior to their death.
On-campus resources for victims of dating violence include the Wellness Center, the Rape Crisis Center Hotline, the “Phone” and the LSU Police.