Teen Dating Violence

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Teen Dating Violence Prevention

• Intimate Partner Violence Webinar
• October 15, 2009
• National Press Foundation
• Kristin Schubert, MPH, Vulnerable Populations
  Portfolio
• Start Strong Building Healthy Teen Relationships

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RWJF Intimate Partner Violence

• Helping Americans to lead healthier lives and get
  the care they need
• Tackle serious health issues, like tobacco use
  and obesity, by going to where health starts and
  finding solutions outside of the traditional
  healthcare system.
• IPV is significant public health problem in this
  country
• Globally, 1 in 4 women experience IPV in their
  lifetime (World Health Organization, 2008)
• In the U.S, young women ages 16-24 experience a
  higher rate of IPV than any other age group.
  (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice
  Statistics, Special Report Intimate Partner
  Violence and Age of Victim, 1993-99)

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Effects of IPV

• IPV has long-lasting effects on people, families
  and communities
• Strongest predictor of IPV is witnessing it
  within ones family
• Among adolescents, IPV is associated with
  increased risk for substance abuse, unhealthy
  weight control behaviors, sexual risk behaviors,
  pregnancy and suicide. (Molidor, Tolman Kober,
  2000 National Center for Injury Prevention and
  Control, 2001)
• High costs to society

4
IPV starts early!

• Physical Dating Violence Norms and Behavior Among
  Six-Graders (Simon, Miller, Gorman-Smith, Orpinas
  Sullivan, 2009)
• Half of all 6th graders say they are dating
  (59.9 males and 45.2 females)
• 42.1 of these 6th graders report being victims
  of dating physical violence
• 28.6 reported perpetration of dating violence
  (scratch, slap, slam/held them up against the
  wall, kicked, pushed/shoved, threw something at
  them that could hurt them, punched/kit him them
  with something that could hurt)
• Students who reported dating said that it is
  acceptable for a girl to hit her boyfriend (59)
  or for a boy to hit his girlfriend (31.3)
  compared to students who had not dated (44.8 and
  22.2, respectively)
• Significantly high acceptance for relationship
  violence among early adolescents

5
Focus on Prevention

• We need to start the conversation about primary
  prevention and healthy relationships.
• How can we break down the acceptance of violence
  and abuse in relationships?
• How can we foster environments that reinforce
  positive attitudes and behaviors toward
  relationships to prevent teen dating abuse before
  it starts?
• What is a healthy relationship? Were on a
  mission to define it.
• We are beginning a new national conversation
  about healthy relationships, what they look and
  feel like, how to have them, build them and keep
  them so that we can ensure violence and abuse are
  never tolerated.

6
Investing in Prevention

• Our goal
• To discover new public-health models that can
  integrate cutting edge practices to not only
  reduce IPV, but change attitudes and behaviors to
  prevent relationship violence and abuse before it
  starts.
• Take the issue out of private sphere into the
  community
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Blue Shield of
  California Foundation are investing 18 million
  in 11 communities across the country to identify
  and evaluate the most promising ways to stop
  dating violence and abuse before it starts.
• Start Strong Building Healthy Teen Relationships
• The largest initiative ever funded to target
  11-14 year olds and engage entire communities to
  promote healthy relationships as the way to
  prevent teen dating violence and abuse.

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Start Strong in Action

• Core Strategies
• Engage and educate young people in and out of
  schools
• Engage and educate influencers, such as older
  teens, parents, mentors, etc.
• Implement policies that support healthy
  relationships
• Use social marketing and communications
  strategies to promote social norm change
• How we work
• 11 diverse communities
• Strong teen leadership
• Evaluating our efforts
• www.startstrongteens.org

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Start Strong Model Communities

• Across the Country in 10 States
• Atlanta - Emory University Medical School Jane
  Fonda Center
• Austin Safe Place
• Boise Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and
  Domestic Violence
• Boston Boston Public Health Commission
• Bridgeport RYASAP
• Indianapolis Clarian Health
• Los Angeles Peace Over Violence (Funded by
  Blue Shield of California Foundation)
• Oakland Family Violence Law Center
• Providence Sojourner House
• New York Bronx-Lebanon Hospital
• Wichita Catholic Charities, Inc.

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A special opportunity

• Thursday, October 22nd , National Start Strong
  Action Day
• Start Strong teens around the country will be out
  in the streets of their communities to educate
  people about healthy relationships and teen
  dating violence and abuse
• Innovative New Approaches to Prevention
• Providence Educational Gaming program
  multi-user virtual environment on relationships
  that teaches 11-14 year olds skills in conflict
  resolution and communication, and promotes
  healthy behaviors such as respect and trust.
• Bronx Manga Comic Books young people are
  learning to create a comic book, developing the
  dialogue and illustrations with the storyline
  around relationships.
• Atlanta A partnership with the HipHop
  Curriculum Project that engages young people
  through music and popular culture to look
  critically at messages they are receiving to ask
  critical questions about what is healthy and what
  is not.

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Presidential Proclamation

• NATIONAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH, 2009
• During this month, we rededicate ourselves to
  breaking the cycle of violence. By providing
  young people with education about healthy
  relationships, and by changing attitudes that
  support violence, we recognize that domestic
  violence can be prevented.
• --President Barack Obama
• THANK YOU