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DO ONE THING and BetterWorld Kids Clubs are projects of The EMILY Fund (The Emily Silverstein Fund, Inc.)


FEBRUARY is
Dating Violence Awareness
& Prevention Month

 

19-year old Emily Rachel Silverstein was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on April 9, 2009. It's not anything that she or we could ever have imagined would happen. Fortunately murders are not very common, but dating violence and abuse is. 1 in 3 teens report that they have experienced physical, verbal, emotional or sexual abuse. YOU can help raise awareness about this serious issue, helping young people learn the warning signs of date abuse, AND even more importantly, know what to do to protect themselves if they are in an abusive relationship.

Please help spread the word to stop dating violence. Get Free Dating Pledge Cards to hand out. So far we've mailed out over 250,000 cards requested by domestic violence agencies, schools, parents and students in all 50 states! The response has been amazing. The cards are a simple, non-confrontational way to begin a conversation about healthy relationships and dating abuse.

Dating violence is one of 4 crimes included in the Violence Against Women Act adopted by the US Congress. The other 3 crimes are domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Violence against women is a serious problem in America. 3 women are murdered by an intimate partner every day in America and each year 4.8 million American women are physically assaulted!

To help states, municipalities, agencies and individuals further the goals of the Violence Against Women Act, the US Department of Justice's Office of Violence Against Women has worked with Congress and the office of the President to establish months designated to raise awareness about these four crimes included in the bill: January is Stalking Awareness Month; February is Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month; April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

These months provide the perfect opportunity to help educate your community and help stop violence against women. Get Involved. Speak Out. Help stop violence against women.

Sample Proclamation:

Whereas, dating violence is a reality for many youth, and an issue that many parents are unaware of; and,

Whereas, 1 in 3 young people are affected by physical, sexual, or verbal dating violence, with 1 in 5 in a serious relationship reporting having been slapped, pushed, hit, threatened or coerced by a partner, and breakups can be a time of even greater risk even when a relationship was never physically abusive; and,

Whereas, Young people can choose better relationships when they understand that healthy relationships are based on respect and learn to identify early warning signs of an abusive relationship; and

Whereas, Elimination of dating violence must be achieved through cooperation of individuals, organizations, and communities; and,

Whereas, Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month provides an excellent opportunity for citizens to learn more about preventing dating violence and to show support for the numerous organizations and individuals who provide critical advocacy, services and assistance to victims;

Now therefore be it, Resolved, That I, ________________, do hereby proclaim the month of February, 2010, as Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month in ____________.

Please send a copy of your Mayor or Governor's proclamation to The EMILY Fund - PO Box 430, Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0430, or send a scan to info@StopDatingViolence.org

More than 200 proclamations were declared for February 2010 -www.StopDatingViolence.org/dvam.htm

 


Click on Thumbnail
for printable PDF Handout

 

DO ONE THING for a Better World

1) Write to your Mayor and Governor and ask them to join other leaders across the nation in declaring February as Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month. In most cases, all it takes is a school or nonprofit organization to request it and provide a sample proclamation! (Please ask them to send a copy to StopDatingViolence.org - PO Box 340, Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0340, or send a scan to info@StopDatingViolence.org so that it can be posted on the internet to inspire other communities to do the same.)

2) If your town or state has declared a proclamation, let your local newspaper know about it and why dating violence awareness is important.

3) Wear a purple ribbon (the official color of domestic violence awareness) or a heart on your sleeve (print out free designs at the Have a Heart Campaign website) and when people ask you about it, let them know why dating abuse awareness is important to you.

4) Create or print out posters about dating abuse to display at school or around your community.

5) Participate in the National Dating Pledge Challenge to Stop Dating Violence - hand out FREE Dating Pledge cards.

6) Set up a table on campus or during lunch to hand out Dating Pledge cards and other educational materials about dating abuse and dating violence.

7) Urge your school to establish a year-round Dating Violence Awareness program if there isn't one already in place.

8) Find out more about the Lindsay Ann Burke Act requiring schools to provide dating violence awareness resources to all students. 3 states have already passed bills - has yours?

 

Links

StopDatingViolence.org

No Means Know's Teen Dating Violence Month Activity Ideas (PDF)
LoveIsRespect.org's Teen Dating Violence Community Awareness Ideas
New Mexico's Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Toolkit (PDF)
Mesa Arizona's page on Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
Teen Dating Violence Prevention Initiative - Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
Break The Cycle's Have a Heart Campaign

Some information on this page also from:

The Safe Space.org (http://www.thesafespace.org/tdvap-week/)
Utah Department of Health:
http://health.utah.gov/vipp/dating% 20violence/awarenessweek.html
NY State Office for the Prevention of Violence: http://www.opdv.state.ny.us/public_awareness/campaigns/tdvcampaigns/awareactivities.html

 

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN Quotes

Love Is Respect YouTube Channel

DO ONE THING CARDS

Receive 100 DoOneThing Cards - $5 suggested donation
Please specify "DATING VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH"
The EMILY Fund - PO Box 430 - Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0430
cards@emilyfund.org

Do One Thing Calendar

Print out and reproduce calendar pages,
or
Order paperback book
with all 60 + reproducible calendar pages
for $7.95
at Lulu.com
(a portion of the proceeds benefits
The EMILY Fund)

 

 

* Win a scholarship - create a 30sec-1min YouTube video inviting others to DO ONE THING ...

Kids | Youth | Adults | Calendar | Quotes | Heroes | Stories | The EMILY Fund | Scholarships
DO ONE THING and BetterWorld Kids Clubs are projects of The EMILY Fund (The Emily Silverstein Fund, Inc.)
Hero portraits are included for illustration purposes only - no celebrity endorsement implied

The Emily Fund
Education, Mentorship, Inspiration, Leadership, Youth
- for a Better
World

PO Box 430
Roosevelt, NJ 08555-0430
info@EmilyFund.org