Hawaii Says NO MORE, a local adaptation of the national public awareness campaign of the same name, focuses on ending domestic violence and sexual assault, as stated in its website hawaiisaysnomore.org. It invites the public to play a part so its influence can spread to other parts of the world.
As stated in the newspaper Hawaiian Newsroom, more than a dozen local non-profit organizations, such as the Joyful Heart Foundation, have joined together to call attention to and encourage discussion about domestic violence and sexual assault within the community.
“Despite this prevalence, these issues remain under-resourced, under-researched and often times misunderstood,” said Maile Zambuto, CEO of the Joyful Heart Foundation.
“With Hawaii Says NO MORE, that’s what we want to change—to lessen the stigma, to increase awareness and to give people in the community an opportunity to learn more and to get involved because together, I promise we can end this.”
Elder Randall Keyes, a counselor at the BYUH Counseling services, said he felt the NO MORE campaign is significant because “when people have more information, there will be more personal power to make decisions and take care of problems.”
Keyes emphasized this knowledge is especially important on the BYUH campus because of the cultural diversity. “Different cultures view violence differently and their histories of violence and we need to come to an understanding,”
Although domestic and sexual violence has been around for a long time, Keyes said, “society has matured thus enabling them to understand there are much better ways to solve these problems.”
He explained that “violence always ends up with a winner and a loser” and that was why the school has Title IX. “The Title IX legislation prohibits any kind of sexual abuse between couples or individuals. I think there is value that Title IX and the campaign both has a voice against the violence,” added Keyes.
Having been a counselor for a while, Keyes said he has dealt with victims of sexual violence, and shared, “those who experience such violence often will experience struggles such as anxiety or depression later on.”
For Keyes, the campaign is a way to stand up, organize and cooperate with others and say NO MORE to sexual violence giving people the opportunity to support and understand victims.
“A lot of these victims have experienced the helplessness of the abuse. The best way to give power is to say NO MORE and stop the violence,” continued Keyes.
Keike Mataoa, a freshman exercise and sports science major from Australia, said she approves of the initiative. “I think this is a great campaign because we cannot completely stop the violence, but we can help to reduce it,” said Mataoa.
Mataoa shared this problem is prevalent in other countries. “In Australia, there are many campaigns similar to this one and it is important because there are many innocent victims who need help,” she added.
Rica Revillo, a freshman business major from the Philippines, said, “In Hawaii, they always talk about the aloha spirit and ohana, and I think that this initiative is a reflection of that.”
Revillo explained that violence and sexual harassment is an issue that seems to be hard to counter. “It is heartwarming to see that there are measures taken to stop such cruel crimes on helpless people,” continued Revillo.
To promote the campaign, commercials have been showcased featuring Hollywood actors, musicians and even some of the NFL’s biggest stars.
“The idea is to let people know that you are making a commitment to say no more for whatever that is — if it means no more silence, no more domestic violence, or no more violence period,” said Nalani Holliday, who owns Red Pineapple at Ward Center where a selfie station was set up for NO MORE week, which began on March 9.
Rachel Chambers, a freshman undecided major from Utah, shared that the idea of the campaign will need the support of everyone. “If only a few people participate, it won’t change the problem,”said Chambers.
The campaign’s vision is that when domestic violence or sexual assault occurs, it will make media headlines, be tweeted about, posted on Facebook, shared on Instagram, discussed in classrooms, offices and grocery stores across the state. The campaign stated it hopes to bring the community together and bring an end to domestic violence and sexual assault.
The national NO MORE campaign was launched in 2013. More information can be found on nomore.org.Uploaded April 8, 2016