Prevention Blog Posts

The California Partnership to End Domestic Violence (the Partnership) has been awarded an important statewide contract from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to develop, implement and evaluate core competencies for domestic violence and teen dating violence primary prevention efforts.

“Our schools need to be safe havens for all students, and it is critical that we provide school leaders with tools and resources to help them become stronger partners in reducing teen dating violence and other forms of gender-based violence… Like bullying, teen dating violence has far-reaching consequences for the health and life outcomes of victims. We need to do everything we can to make sure all students are safe.” - US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Mika is a dating abuse survivor and an advocate and educator for healthy relationships and dating abuse prevention.

My name is Mika Sasaki and I live in San Francisco. 

My first relationships in high school were emotionally abusive and controlling. My boyfriends told me where I could go and who I could hang out with, and yelled and called me names if I didn’t do what they told me. This became normal for me.

An Executive Director at a Northern California domestic violence (DV) organization shared this story that shows that when schools ignore dating abuse, they fail both victims and offenders:

In 2009-2010 fiscal year, our organization saw a 45% increase in youth and young adults seeking services. A total of 112 young people came in for services, including crisis intervention, counseling, and assistance with filing for restraining orders.

The abuse that Marissa Presley endured by a much older boyfriend at the age of 14 resulted in truancy, difficulty focusing at school, and extensive health and mental health consequences. When she confided to a well-meaning school counselor, thedisastrous advice she received was, “Hang in there.” Now Marissa manages dating abuse prevention programs for Laura’s House in Orange County. Sadly, she has heard stories similar to her own from far too many teens who have been abused in their dating relationships.

Research shows that dating abuse compromises student safety and academic achievement and that school policies are key to preventing abuse on campus.

That is why over 25 states have adopted laws to address dating abuse in schools. Read why California should do the same:

Liz Gomez works as the Site Coordinator for Woodcraft Rangers at South East High School in South Gate, California. Since South East High student Cindi Santana was murdered in September 2011, she has been supporting the leadership of youth who are working to ensure that all students, “Live Violence Free.”