Awareness Months

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February

Teen Dating Violence
Awareness Month

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    • About 1 in 5 women and nearly 1 in 7 men who ever experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, first experienced some form of partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age.

    • Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.

    • One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.

    • One in 10 high school students has been purposefully hit, slapped or physically hurt by a dating partner.

April

Child Abuse
Prevention Month

    • Child abuse and neglect is more likely in homes that also have domestic violence between the parents.

    • Child abuse reports involved 7.8 million children.

    • Annual estimate: 1,770 children died from abuse and neglect in 2018.

    • Child abuse crosses all socioeconomic and educational levels, religions, ethnic and cultural groups.

    • More than half (51%) of adults who were abused as children experienced domestic abuse in later life (Office of National Statistics, UK)

    • The single best predictor of children becoming either perpetrators or victims of domestic violence later in life is whether or not they grow up in a home where there is domestic violence (UNICEF).

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October

Domestic Violence
Awareness Month

    • Domestic violence does not have to be physical or sexual to be abuse; it can manifest in a wide variety of controlling tactics.

    • Nearly half of all women and men in the United States have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime (48.4% and 48.8%, respectively)

    • More than 1 in 3 women (35.6%) and more than 1 in 4 men (28.5%) in the United States have experienced rape, physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.

    • Nearly two in three corporate executives (63%) say that domestic violence is a major problem in our society and more than half (55%) cite its harmful impact on productivity in their companies.

You can be part of change!

    • Follow and engage with our awareness campaigns on social media (Facebook, Instagram), which regularly offer resources and more in-depth information

    • Write out a message about why you support Walnut Avenue, then take a photo of yourself holding the sign and post it to social media. Tag us @walnutavenue_center on IG or @WalnutAvenueWomensCenter on FB so we can share it too!

    • Host one of our workshops or presentations with your friends or family and learn the skills of an effective ally to a loved one experiencing harm (info here)

    • Volunteer, either individually or with a group, in one of our programs - more info at “Volunteer” and “Internships & Training”!

    • Consider how you can be an active participant in your local mutual aid networks

    • Ask our community engagement coordinator for a media kit with ideas on how you can incorporate into your business’ own social media!

    • Host one of our Clothesline Projects on a wall at your workplace, in a waiting room, a public lobby, or any other group space

    • Host one of our presentations on recognizing domestic violence happening in the workplace and your rights

    • Become a donor whose generosity helps us continue serving families in Santa Cruz County

    • Host one of our evidence-based workshops on healthy dating and friendships for teens of all ages, genders, and sexual orientations - free and now online!

    • Reach out to our coordinator and ask how your faculty and staff can refer teens, parents, and families to our agency for free services

    • Have a place for our youth services brochures in your office for teens and parents to take

    • Ask us how an advocate can support classroom teachers in discussions around challenging themes of violence that come up in history and literature curricula

    • Ask our community engagement coordinator for a media kit with ideas on how you can incorporate into your school’s own social media and events!