Hoping to heighten student awareness of domestic abuse, a panel of local professionals was organized Wednesday to answer questions and present options available to victims.

Promoting Awareness/ Victim Empowerment, the College Feminists and Peer Diversity Educators developed the panel.

The meeting began with Geri Segal, a counselor for the Chippewa Valley Family and Victim Support Center.

“One out of every four women are physically abused by their cohabital partners,” Segal said. “It’s a public health epidemic.”

She emphasized that for all reported domestic crimes, there are many more that go unreported.

Later in the meeting, Charlie Rumberg spoke. Rumberg is the head of NOVUS, a program that attempts to educate and change perpetrators of domestic abuse.

NOVUS has three goals Rumberg said. First, the program tries to help the victims of domestic abuse decide which actions to take based on how their abusive partner responds during the NOVUS meetings.

Secondly, if possible, the program attempts to change the abusers’ behavior.

“We all get angry sometimes, that’s normal,” Rumberg said. “It’s how we act that can be a problem.”

The third aim of NOVUS is to force everyone involved to think about their problem, although many will never change, Rumberg said.

The meeting ended with a question-and-answer session that lasted only several minutes.

About 20 people came to the meeting, 15 of them being students.

Although many declined to comment on the meeting, senior Andrew Rustleund, the sole male student in attendance, said it was informative.

“I was really impressed with what (Rumberg) said,” Rustleund said. “It seems like he’s really doing good work.”

Rustleund added that he heard of the event through his wife Katie, a women’s study minor.

“This is a really important issue for me and her,” Rustleund said.

Katie, a senior, said she has always been interested in women’s issues and heard of the rally through her women’s studies course.

Senior Cynthia Patterson, a student activist, PAVE member and one of the key organizers of the event, said she was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who attended the meeting, especially given that it was held at noon.

“I don’t want to underestimate Eau Claire students,” Patterson said. “But I realize this was held at a difficult hour and students have mid-terms.”

Patterson said the underlying goal of the event was to help inform people of programs available in the area.

“I really wanted people to get a different perspective,” Patterson said. “Most people only know about counseling services and the police department.”

The meeting accomplished her goals, Patterson said.

“The speakers were very knowledgeable and I think we got some information out there.”