We’re excited to announce the theme for Teen Dating Violence
Awareness and Prevention Month for 2022: Uplift One Another.
Uplift One Another captures the essence of preventing teen dating
violence. Stopping dating and domestic violence before they ever
occur requires stopping the conditions that support violence, and
promoting conditions that prevent violence. We must end
systemic/cultural power imbalances (sexism, racism, homophobia,
etc), and instead build healthier communities, form strong
connections, and know our self worth — in other words we must
uplift one another. Whether it’s uplifting yourself, a
friend, your partner(s), or your community, in order to prevent
violence we must uplift.
Take action
Campaign events
February 8– Wear Orange
Day
Wear orange to raise awareness for Teen Dating Violence! Be sure
to tag us @ca_partnership on instagram and @cpedvcoalition on
twitter, and use the hashtag #TDVAPM
February 28 – Youth Discussion
about Healthy Relationship Education and Community
Organizing
Calling all youth! Connect with your peers across the state who
are also working to end teen dating violence! We’ll gather
virtually to acknowledge the added stress of the pandemic,
discuss self and community care, explore how we’ve adapted
outreach efforts, and learn about how build community solidarity
while educating peers about healthy relationships.
Register.
Ongoing all month
Take Action for Prevention
Funding
We’re asking everyone to urge their legislators and Governor
Newsom to provide ongoing funding in the final budget to continue
the critical prevention work that has previously been funded
across the state. Governor
Newsom’s January budget failed to include our requested $15
million in prevention funding to support these vital
programs. Funding is essential to create and sustain programs
to prevent domestic violence and sexual violence.
Access
the toolkit
Don’t have a Twitter account?
Tell us why you think prevention is important and we’ll tweet for
you
Social Media
We have found that the most successful campaigns make good use of
authentic messengers. In the spirit of equity, we encourage you
to gather the voices of youth from your prevention programs to
create your TDVAPM social media content! Here are some prompts to
guide these conversations as well as a
graphics template.
- What do you want people to know about teen dating violence
prevention activism that takes place outside of school?
- What would you want adults to say to each other to encourage
their peers to support youth?
- How is your teen dating violence prevention club using social
media for activism?
- What works to prevent teen dating violence and connected
forms of violence?
Don’t forget — It is best practice to confirm consent to share
the responses from youth who are participating. You may also need
the consent of parents.
Spread awareness and post about TDVAPM share the
graphic below and use the zoom background.
zoom background:
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
We asked the TDVAPM Youth Advisory Committee how they’d guide
adult preventionists’ outreach efforts to youth. Stay tuned for a
number of strategies for building meaningful relationships with
youth in the outreach process, increasing inclusivity, and
building the capacity for social justice organizing.
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.
Pass a local proclamation declaring February as
Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. Sample
TDVAPM 2022 Proclamation template
Meet the Advisory Council
Thank you to our TDVAPM Youth Advisory Council for all their work
and guidance.
- Christopher Petrosian, KNOW MORE – Marjaree Mason Center
- Estrella Torres, Youth Mentor Program – Center for A Non
Violent Community
- Cailyn Mendoza, KNOW MORE – Marjaree Mason Center
- Riley Strunk, KNOW MORE – Marjaree Mason Center
- Alyssa Fuellas Ayala, Jeneration J – Jenesse Center
- Angel Quintanilla, Youth Against Violence – STAND! For
Families Free of Violence
- Tavita Lealao, Youth Against Violence – STAND! For Families
Free of Violence
Meet the Campaign Visual Artist:
Nina Wang
Bio: Hi, I’m Nina! I’m a 17-year-old high
school senior from San Jose. Ever since I was young, I’ve loved
all things art related whether it’s painting, crafting, or even
taking nice looking notes. These skills have helped me with last
minute gift giving in the past, but now help me in raising
awareness and promoting self-expression. As a way of discouraging
fast-fashion, I try to customize my older clothing or create my
own. Besides drawing, I drift towards hobbies such as knitting,
crocheting, and sewing. At my school, I started a club where
members learn to knit and crochet for charity; donating items
such as blankets, scarves, or handmade plushies. In the future, I
hope to not only improve my technical art skills but also to
continue helping people when I can — amplifying the voices that
often go unheard. I wish to combine my passion for design with
technology and graduate with a degree in computer science and
design. You can follow her on instagram at @artsy.coma
Artist Statement: Since this piece is focused on
bringing awareness to teen dating violence and prevention, I
decided to focus on the roots of domestic violence. Oftentimes,
unhealthy relationships can be prevented if individuals
understand their self-worth and treat their peers with respect
and honesty. I wanted to emphasize the importance of diversity
and acceptance as well as self-love. With more love shown to
communities that are often discriminated against, we can promote
a more healthy and tolerant society. The tagline “Uplift one
Another” is a simple way of conveying that equality and kindness.
These words are paired with bubbles that can be interpreted as
personal space or as a symbol of uplifting.
