Interval House Observes Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
Agency Elevating Prevention as Funding Cuts Loom
HARTFORD - Interval House—Connecticut’s largest domestic violence agency—will observe Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month in February. Organization leadership announced today its intention to double down on prevention initiatives despite looming cuts from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) and other Federal sources.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 15.5 million children are exposed to domestic violence in the United States every year. What's worse: Without intervention, two out of three of those young witnesses of abuse will repeat those behaviors in their own adult relationships. This statistic is staggering, but not surprising: every year in Connecticut there are roughly 14 domestic violence-related murders, and just last Monday 30-year-old Bryana Raye was killed by her partner—a man who was convicted of threatening and strangulation in 2015.
“This pattern of violence is not new, but is senseless in a world where we have the information and resources to stop it. The CDC has long recommended education about healthy relationships as a top strategy for preventing intimate partner violence, so that’s what we’re doing,” said Mary-Jane Foster, President and C.E.O. “Our intention is to elevate our prevention work as high as our intervention services in order to help kids, parents, and educators to identify the warning signs of abuse and avoid unhealthy relationships altogether.”
In response to an unrelenting caseload and major Federal funding cuts to victim services, Interval House is strategically committing resources to its prevention program called, “Breaking the Cycle.” The initiative provides education on healthy relationships, boundaries, and self-love to youth in schools, libraries, and through partnerships with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hartford, Camp Courant, and the YWCA Hartford Region. In addition, Interval House is working to raise awareness broadly by participating in Fox61’s Student News program, whereby young journalists investigate the topic of teen dating violence and report on their findings through the media outlet.
Foster continued: “We know that 72% of 13- and 14-year-olds are dating and that women between the ages of 18 and 24 most likely to experience domestic violence. But a shocking 82% of parents admit they do not know if teen dating violence is an issue and that 58% of parents cannot correctly identify all the warning signs of abuse. It is imperative that we as adults not only model healthy behaviors for the young people we know—we must remain engaged with them, equipping them with the knowledge and power to shut down abusive conduct before it becomes a pattern in their lives.”
A press conference on these topics will be held at Connecticut State Community College’s Capital Campus in Hartford on Friday, Feb. 14 at 11:30 a.m. More information will be provided via advisory next week.
“Breaking the Cycle” offers the following resources to youth, parents and educators:
Educational Presentations
Interval House’s Community Conveners offer age-appropriate and culturally-reflective education on the areas of domestic violence, teen dating violence, healthy relationships, self-love, and emotional wellness. Email Maggie Taylor at mtaylor@intervalhousect.org to inquire about a presentation for your group.
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Tool Kit
A toolkit containing multimedia educational resources is available for download at https://intervalhousect.org/teen-dating by administrators, faculty, and parents to help them guide students through a variety of lessons and activities that raise awareness and empower them to act when they are aware of abuse in a dating relationship.