Justina Watts (left), a victim of domestic violence, and Jean Kirk (center), a professor at St. Xavier University, talk after Thursday’s Shine the Light on Domestic Violence Candlelight Walk at and around OSF Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

Justina Watts will soon graduate from St. Xavier University with a degree in nursing.

It is her experiences, along with her acquired knowledge, that will make her a great nurse, according to one of her professors.

Watts is a survivor of domestic violence.

“I had her as a student in the past and she’s so proud of what she has accomplished and not being afraid to take the resources available to her,” Jean Kirk, a nursing professor at St. Xavier, said of Watts. “In a few short months, she is going to finish her nursing education.

“She’s going to be a great nurse and part of that is because of what she has gone through.”

Watts and another St. Xavier student, Olivia Dominici, carried the banner leading the Shine the Light on Domestic Violence Candlelight Walk on Thursday evening through the neighborhood around OSF Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park.

The walk was promoted as a way to stand in solidarity with victims of domestic violence. October is recognized as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“We all know that just because we don’t see bruises on someone that doesn’t mean they are not suffering from violence,” Watts said. “I want to give awareness to other people like me who don’t know a lot of people or a lot of places offer resources.”

Watts said she was not a victim of physical abuse, but was abused emotionally, mentally, financially and sexually.

She said she was able to get out of the abusive situation through college scholarships and getting a job at Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet through the help of one of her professors.

Kirk, who was a nurse for 40 years before becoming an educator, knew of Watts’ situation and was glad her former student attended the Candlelight Walk.

“I was wondering if she was going to be here,” Kirk said.

Kirk said she has wondered about the circumstances of some of the emergency room patients she saw.

Participants pray for the victims of domestic violence at the conclusion of the Candlelight Walk. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

“I have suspected that something may have been going on with the patients, but unlike when you can see the obvious physical issues, I think the emotional abuse can be just as hard and just as difficult,” she said.

The St. Xavier professor said it is important that community members know there is help available.

“I think it’s important that we make those resources known, that people don’t feel ashamed, that they don’t feel it’s their fault, and that raising awareness and letting people know it’s OK is something that’s really important,” Kirk said.

Dominici, who carried the walk’s lead banner with Watts, said she felt it was important to be at the event.

Participants stand in prayer. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

“I think the importance of being here is because a lot of victims of domestic violence continue to go through domestic violence and they have no clue on how to get out,” said Dominici, president of the Student Nurse Association at St. Xavier University. “They don’t know that they have resources that can allow them to break the cycle they’re going through.

“So, it’s important to come together and shine light on things because it makes people feel empowered to get out then.”

St. Gianna Parish, in conjunction with OSF Little Company of Mary Hospital and the Southside Domestic Violence Outreach Committee, conducted the Candlelight Walk.

The Outreach Committee is a collaborative ministry between a number of Catholic South Side parishes, including St. John Fisher, St. Cajetan, Christ the King, St. Barnabas, St. Christina, St. Catherine of Alexandria and Our Lady of St. Germaine.

Prayers for the victims of domestic violence were offered at the start and end of the walk.

Chicago resident Zainah Assaf, a recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, said she felt it was important to be at the walk because it was the right thing to do.

“You can just jump into someone’s shoes and understand they are going through something and you’ll feel that emotion,” Assaf said. “Just being there for them, it is just being human.

“Even though it might not be something I’m dealing with, it could be something that someone else is dealing with and I can come here and give of myself, open my heart and know things like this happen.”

The Rev. Charles Dahm, director of Domestic Violence Outreach for the Archdiocese of Chicago, said the walk represented different religious congregations and different parishes

Walkers head down a street near Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park. (Photo by Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

“What they’re each doing in their respective parishes and churches is raising awareness about this so that the members who are suffering from this know that their leadership, their congregation does not approve of it and wants to help them,” Dahm said. “So, we want to raise the awareness about the problem so that they have the confidence to look for help and then we want to show them where the help exists. We have connections to all the agencies that are serving domestic violence victims and we make that connection.”

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com