February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month
Adolescence is a time of remarkable opportunity. It’s a time for growth, exploration, and learning. Our teenage years are when we learn how to create deeper connections with our peers, manage our emotions, make decisions, and forge our core beliefs. These connections and beliefs are the foundation of our adult lives.
Right now for 1 in 3 teens, their foundation is a violent relationship.
We can create pillars of nonviolence, respect, and equity as young people build their interests and goals. We can have workshops in schools where youth are taught that relationships should be fulfilling and bring joy, and provide counselors to guide students to prioritize their mental health as they transition into adulthood. These efforts require time and resources which comes from continuous and consistent state funding.
“Believing in the preventability of violence makes a significant difference. It shifts the narrative from viewing violence as inevitable to understanding that with education and intervention, we have the power to create a world free from relationship violence. ” -Youth Leaders CJ and Terin
Learn more about dating violence at LoveIsRespect.org.
News:
Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month Resolution
Senator Susan Rubio introduced SR 63, our Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month resolution. We applaud her work to raise awareness of domestic violence and teen dating violence!
Rally to Prevent and End Teen Dating Violence
On February 12, The Partnership and youth leaders from across California held a rally at the state capitol to share the importance of prevention funding in 2024 and beyond.
➜ Check out some speech excerpts in our live tweet thread.
➜ View more photos from the rally on our Instagram.
Planning your campaign
Graphics
Tiffany Dator designed these beautiful graphics! Please feel free to use them.
Last year our TDVAPM Advisory Council held a media briefing with Ethnic Media Services to inform journalists about TDV. Using the knowledge from the media briefing, culturally specific news outlets published 46 articles in various languages about TDV. Please share these articles throughout the month.
A great way to raise awareness is to pass a TDVAPM resolution in your community declaring February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. It’s a chance to teach local leaders about the prevalence of domestic violence, and give them an opportunity to speak out about it. We’ve written out a sample proclamation that contains instructions.
In this webinar we generated ideas, shared helpful tips, and learned about different processes for creating a campaign. The webinar included some guest program spotlights to aid in brainstorming and inspiration. Watch the recording.
Request Technical Assistance
Do you need help planning your campaign? We can help provide tools and resources, be a sounding board for your ideas, brainstorm a campaign tailored to your community’s needs, and strengthen your current plans. Technical assistance is free to Partnership members and their staff. Interested? Please contact Michelle Huey at michelleh@cpedv.org.
Calling all adult preventionists: Learn directly from youth about how to make your outreach more meaningful and inclusive, as well as build youth capacity for social justice organizing. Access the Youth in the Lead Outreach Toolkit – An Educational Guide Developed by Youth Leaders, for Adult Preventionists (.pdf).
Help local domestic violence organizations.
Donate some money or time to your local domestic violence organization and learn how to connect with them. Follow them on social media to learn about the ways they’re serving your community. Click here for a map of domestic violence organizations in California. Click here to learn about StrongHearts Native Helpline, which serves Native and Indigenous survivors.
Learn about how you can make a difference in your everyday interactions with our interactive stories.
Meet the Advisory Council
The TDVAPM Youth Advisory Council has been working to help us plan this campaign. Thank you for all your work and guidance.
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Armaan Sharma
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CJ Calica
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Jessica Kim
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Kai Yamamoto
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Katie Kee
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Safa Idrees
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Terin Lee
Artwork
Artwork by Tiffany Dator
Students are beginning their first relationships on middle and high school campuses. Not everyone has a healthy experience. Students in abusive relationships often feel isolated, controlled & unable to focus on school. Others have questions about what a healthy relationship looks like–from texting to time spent together. Schools in your community can be ready to begin (or enhance!) plans to prevent adolescent dating abuse.
