February is Black History Month and Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
Black History Month
February is Black History Month, and the theme is Black Health and Wellness. Learning about Black history helps ensure that prevention efforts are responsive to historical trauma. Also, highlighting positive aspects of Black culture improves young people’s perceptions of self and sets them up for health and wellness in the future. A strong sense of racial identification among African American youth can contribute to increased self-esteem, school performance, and adaptive coping mechanisms. It can also decrease the likelihood of youth engaging in violence. The Promise Program is one example of an intervention that builds on culture to reduce violence among African American males. By learning about Black history and Black culture, we can improve the effectiveness of interventions to prevent violence. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) created a resource list to connect people with the tools they need to educate themselves about Black history: The Many Ways to Learn Black History.
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
February is also Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and the theme this year is “Talk About It.” Dating violence is more common than many people think. One in three teens in the U.S. will experience physical, sexual, or emotional abuse by someone they are in a relationship with before they become adults. Nearly half (43%) of dating college women report experiencing violent and abusive dating behaviors. We can stop dating abuse before it starts by spreading awareness and investing in teen dating violence prevention efforts. Below are some resources to learn more about dating violence prevention:
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Teen Dating Violence Prevention Resources for 2022, a resource list for youth, advocates, preventionists, and caregivers.
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That’s Not Cool, a project from Futures Without Violence.
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Love Is Respect, a project of the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
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NRCDV Radio Episode 39: Stories of Transformation: Joy, Pride & Passion of Youth Activism, a podcast episode where guests discuss community care and action, as well as the role of digital activism in changing social, economic, and political norms, hosted by the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV).
Presenters: Candace Girod, MPH; Annika Leonard, M.B.A., Jacqueline Miller, and Tonjie Reese, MAEd
Hosts: PreventConnect, the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (NRCDV), and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC)
The COVID-19 global pandemic has exposed the ongoing health inequities that Black women face. While Black women can experience violence and dehumanization when seeking health care in general, this is especially true for survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence. This disparity makes it difficult to access care and trust health systems as a whole. To address these intersecting oppressions, we must prioritize building community with survivors and dismantle systems that promote violence against Black women. In this webinar, the presenters discuss how to center Black survivors in the fight for health equity and violence prevention. They also talk about the new paper: Back to Basics: Partnering with Survivors and Communities to Promote Health Equity at the Intersections of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence.
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The Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault has released their new Healthy Relationships Activity Book (HRAB), a tool designed to bring parents/guardians and youth together to learn about healthy relationships, consent, gender stereotypes, and trust and support. The HRAB consists of two parts: The Parent/Guardian Guide and The Activity Book. It was designed for youth between late grade school and middle school (ages 10-13). This resource was developed by the staff at MNCASA with guidance and feedback from two youth groups: the Health and Wellness Subcommittee from the Minnesota Youth Council and the Girls Getting Ahead in Leadership youth group with the Women’s Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE). For support, contact Hunter Beckstrom at hbeckstrom@mncasa.org.
February 22, 2022
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Facilitators: Sawyer Plotz (Family Tree Clinic) & Hunter Beckstrom (MNCASA)
A virtual workshop hosted by the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA) and Family Tree Clinic aimed at helping parents and guardians use the new Healthy Relationships Activity Book and become impactful healthy relationships educators for youth. The first 50 people to register by February 15, 2022 will receive hard copies of the Health Relationships Activity Book and the Healthy Relationships Parent & Guardian Guide.
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February 26, 2022
Virtual Event
Since 2011, Esperanza United has hosted an annual conference in honor of Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, led by youth leaders. This year the conference will be virtual and is free to all youth ages 12-18. The theme is Find your Poder, Find your Comunidad. E-mail dhernandez@esperanzaunited.org to register.
April 7 – 9, 2022
Option: Attend Virtually or In-Person (Salt Lake City, UT)
The theme for the 9th Annual National Pacific Island Violence Prevention Conference is Confronting Domestic Violence from the Intersections. The agenda and presenters are to be announced. Scholarships will be available. For additional questions or concerns about programming, contact Matapuna Levenson at mlevenson@api-gbv.org.
April 19 – 21, 2022
Option: Attend Virtually or In-Person (San Francisco, CA)
This annual conference focuses on sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking, human trafficking, and elder abuse. Law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, victim advocates, judges, parole and probation officers, rape crisis workers, health care professionals, faith community members, educators, researchers and others will come together for this three-day conference highlighting promising practices and emerging issues to effectively respond to these crimes in all of our communities.
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