Posts

Dating Violence..... My story

Image
February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month and this is my story of survival....... He was 6’2 and looked like he belonged on the walls of Abercrombie and Fitch with his wavy espresso colored hair, milk chocolate eyes, and rock-hard abs. He was affectionate, funny, smart, quick-witted, and dating me! For two years I was part of the “perfect high school couple.” You know, the kind they use to sell shampoo, teeth whitening strips, zit cream--anything that will make life as a teen better than it, supposedly, already is. The truth, however, was far different than the picture we were selling. In reality, my picture-perfect boyfriend was mean, demanding, abusive, and no one knew. Not even me, at least not until years later when I learned what dating violence was. Dating violence, or relationship abuse, is defined as a pattern of abusive behavior used against a girlfriend or boyfriend. It can be physical, such as hitting or kicking, verbal or emotional, including constant...
Post a Comment
Read more

Vigilence

Image
Feburary is Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. It is unfortunate we need a month like this or organizations like Love is Not Abuse but it is more important then ever that we remain vigilent as we work to end violence in lives of our teens. Young love should be a time of joy, adventure, surprises and discovery, not a time for hurt, fear and abuse, yet that is the case for the 1 in 5 teens living in an abusive realtionship. How are you helping to change the numbers? If you aren't then it is time to change that. Reach out, educate yourself so you can offer the right resources when someone comes to you for help b/c with numbers like these someone will come to you someday and you need to be prepared. If you need information check out the sidebar on my blog or contact me and I'll send you a list. But please get the information and share it so that we can stop needing posters like this one.
Post a Comment
Read more

Louisanna Announces New Law

Image
WONDERFUL progress in Lousianna! Louisiana recently passed HB 46 sponsored by Rep. Nita Hutter, a member of the National Foundation of Women Legislators (NFWL), which requires teen dating violence education in grades 7-12 in the health curriculum. The law was passed as a collaborative effort as Rep. Hutter worked with Love Is Not Abuse Coalition member Louisiana Appleseed, a non-profit organization made up of pro bono lawyers that supports social change. The Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Louisiana Dept. of Education also supported passage of this law. Passage of a law is the first and perhaps the most important step toward prevention through education. But the work does not end there. Proper implementation of such a law is not always easy and requires much planning and work to make it successful. Although not required by law, Louisiana quickly recognized the need for teacher training on the topic of teen dating violence and training on how to teach the topic, as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kudos

Image
In the world of Rape and Abuse Advocacy it is rare to see the "fruit of your labors" whether it is a late night hot line call, a weekend hospital trip, an article written or a speech given more often then not you never see the end results of the work you. Because of the nature of our work it is not uncommon to never have contact with an individual who's phone call you take on the hot line or who's hand you hold at the hospital. It is even more rare that you will ever know who was moved to action by an article you've written or a speech you given. Still you go about doing it praying that some good is coming of it and that changes are being made. Because of the nature of our justice system even if you are helping a victim from start to finish through the legal process it is highly unlikely that justice will be received. More often then not plea bargains are made, charges are dropped or changed and the victim is left questioning whether it was even worth reporting. A...
Post a Comment
Read more

The end of the month... not the end of the issue

Image
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and typically I spend the month updating my blog with a huge volume of information to help raise awareness and to get resources into the hands of as many people as possible. This year, however, I took a different approach. Since this blog is fairly new and doesn't have as many followers as my facebook page has friends I decided to take my awareness efforts to facebook. Almost everyday in the month of October I updated my status with statics about domestic violence and my page with links to web pages for helps and information about events going on in a variety of areas. The response was great! People responded to what was posted by contacting me for more information, sharing their stories and asking for links to pass on to others. In sort it did exactly what I'd hoped it would do, it furthered the dialogue that was going on on a national level. October is a great month in that the awareness level is heightened, events take place and ...
Post a Comment
Read more

SPEAK and Love is Not Abuse

Image
I apologize that it has taken me 2 weeks to get this posted but I've been fighting a nasty cold/flu thing for 2 weeks and being upright was simply not an option. On Monday September 13, 2010 I had the opportunity to present the Love is Not Abuse (LINA) Dating Violence Curriculum to the 10th grade Honors English Classes. It was the first time the curriculum has been presented in Ohio and one of the first to present the revised edition, which includes information on digital dating abuse, in the nation. All of which was very exciting and nerve wracking. Some might think the idea of talking dating abuse with 100 teenagers would be the most difficult part but that wasn't the case, the most difficult part was not presenting the material as much as it was condensing the material. The curriculum is set up to be 4 to 5, 50 minute classes covering all aspects of Dating Violence. It covers what it is, the warning signs , helps for victims and abusers and has 2 classes on digital dating v...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dr. Phil & NNEDV

Dr. Phil McGraw from the Dr. Phil show will announce an exciting new parternship with the National Network to End Domestic Violence on his show today, Monday, September 13. It will be the premiere of Dr. Phil's 9th season, throughout which he will be on a mission to end the silence on domestic violence! NNEDV's president, Sue Else, will appear on the show as an expert on domestic violence. To watch, check your local listing at http://www.drphil.com/shows/listing/ .
Post a Comment
Read more