One in five adolescent girls will experience a form of sexual or physical violence in her lifetime, according to the Journal of American Medical Association.

Deidra Bennett, a victim advocate at the Women’s Center, describes domestic violence as any sexual or emotional abuse in a relationship.

"Ninety-five percent of the time it’s the man who is the perpetrator and who’s seeking to maintain control over their partner," she said.

There have been at least 13 women from northwest Ohio who have been murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the past few years. Most were killed when they were trying to get away from a bad relationship, Bennett said.

Because sexual assault does occur on campus, Bennett and four other BGSU students are working to develop the Silent Witness Program at BGSU. It will not only honor local victims, but it will also educate the campus and community to prevent further domestic violence.

"Women need to know that domestic violence is very dangerous and there is a support system in the community to keep them safe and get out safely," Bennett said.

The Silent Witness National Initiative started about 10 years ago; the goal, according to the organization’s website, is to promote harmony in adult relationships and to reach zero domestic violence deaths by 2010.

Silent Witness exhibits can be found around the United States as well as in other countries; there are at least two exhibits in Toledo.

Each exhibit consists of life-size female silhouettes, each representing a woman or her child who died at the hands of her husband or partner. On the chest of each figure is a plaque, indicating the woman’s name and how she died.

Bennett and the students have been researching local domestic violence deaths, writing the information for the plaques and soliciting sponsors to build the exhibit. The university police department was one of the first organizations to sponsor a figure. Some sororities and fraternities have also sponsored figures.

Alpha Chi Omega teamed up with Alpha Phi to sponsor a figure as part of their philanthropy in raising money for the battered women’s shelter.

"Everyone is so pumped up about it," said Angela Dudek of Alpha Chi Omega. "I’m glad to be a part of it."

The 13 women who will be honored in the BGSU exhibit range in age from 14 to 37. "The displays seen are very powerful," Bennett said. "You realize that these are actually women who aren’t here anymore. It’s very overwhelming to see the stories on the displays of women in our community."

Bennett said real stories of women in our community helped to inspire the project’s development here. Michelle Rizzi Salerno, an alumna of BGSU, is one of the women being featured in the exhibit. About a year ago, her body was found buried at a BGSU construction site after she was strangled to death months earlier.

Her husband Dennis Salerno has been charged with her murder, but has not been convicted of the crime.

"The Women’s Center wanted to bring attention to this case and create a memorial for her," Bennett said.

The Rizzi family sponsored her Silent Witness figure, which will be introduced to the campus at a memorial service on April 20. The rest of the figures, Bennett said, will be made over the summer and introduced to the campus in the fall. Once complete, the figures will serve as a travelling exhibit.

Patricia Rizzi, the former student’s mother, said she contributed to the program to help something positive come out of her daughter’s death. "We need to let people know that domestic violence kills," she said.

Junior Shaluh Mack is working to do just that. She’s one of the students who has been working with Bennett since October. They were introduced to the program in a women’s studies class about violence against women.

"I never worked with domestic violence victims before, and I was able to read into the lives they lived and how they died," Mack said. "It made me eager to make a difference and change. It’s such an unnecessary and irrational violence by the hands of someone who loved them."