On Wednesday, Oct. 19, NC State’s Women’s Center hosted an event to celebrate National Love Your Body Day as a part of their Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) event series.

All were welcome into room 5210 in Talley Student Union to participate in a variety of fun activities, including collage-making, creating temporary tattoos and writing love letters to their bodies. The Women’s Center also offered an array of comfort foods that added to the warm, soothing atmosphere created by the friendly staff, calming music, and a video of a fireplace cast onto the projector screen. 

Grace Woods, a fourth-year studying social work and art studies, has been interning at the Women’s Center since the start of the fall semester. Woods planned most of the Love Your Body event.

“It’s been a really cool opportunity,” Woods said. “I really love connecting with students in the space and learning more about the services the Women’s Center offers. I get to do a lot of crafting and activity planning, and just foster spaces for people to connect.”

The purpose of the event was to provide a safe space to help victims of domestic violence cultivate love for their bodies in an environment where they felt supported and protected.

“Events like this are geared toward helping people feel more comfortable in their bodies and think about their bodies as they move through a patriarchal, capitalist, racist space,” said Dr. Kaelie Giffel, assistant director for interpersonal violence prevention, education and training in the Women’s Center. “This event aims to bring together people in communities so they can think about their lives a little more critically, but also so they can have fun, because celebration is also part of it.”

Giffel’s line of work mainly involves leading workshops to educate NC State faculty and staff about how they can best support students and survivors of domestic violence and prevent interpersonal violence on campus. Her work helps to further the overall goal of the center by allowing women on campus to feel safe and welcome.

“The staff are so welcoming all the time and it’s just a nice place to chill,” said Sanjana Cheerla, a graduate student studying computer science. “I like to come here and study. It’s nice because they have tea and snacks and it’s super quiet. I think it’s really nice.”

Cheerla has been a frequent visitor of the Women’s Center since 2019, when she was an undergraduate student at NC State. She often attends the events hosted by the Women’s Center because she loves the supportive, friendly environment cultivated by the staff.

For those who had a positive experience at the Love Your Body event and are hoping to come back, or anyone who’s bummed they missed out on the fun, the Women’s Center will host a Candy, Condoms and Consent event Monday, Oct. 31 in room 5210 at Talley Student Union. At the event, the staff will hand out candy and offer safe sex supplies such as internal condoms, condoms, lube and dental dams. They will also provide some information about sex, consent and pleasure.