#TDVAM & Prevention

As you may know, February was National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM). While the WCA works to engage young people year-round, February marks the conclusion and awards ceremony of our annual Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest. The PSA Contest is open to all junior high, high school and college students throughout the state. There were 11 entries in this year’s contest, each focused on one of three themes: relationship abuse, healthy relationships, active bystander skills. You can view all of the entries here.

The purpose of this contest is to get young people talking to one another about what constitutes an unhealthy vs. healthy relationship and what resources are available should they need them. Thank you to all of the individuals who participated in this year’s contest– we are so impressed with each entry!

The PSA Contest, as well as many of our other TDVAM efforts, are important for awareness raising. The submissions from the PSA Contest will be shared with other students the WCA works with throughout the year and each entry did an amazing job of bringing very real issues to light. However, we know in order to create real change in our community, we must continue these awareness raising efforts alongside other efforts: prevention efforts.

Domestic abuse and sexual assault prevention can take many forms but in general, it requires us to address the risk factors of intimate partner violence at multiple levels and stages. Throughout the next few months, the WCA will be taking a strategic look at ways we can enhance the prevention work we currently do and what new efforts can be put in place. We also encourage all of our supporters to think about the ways you can work towards a safer, healthier community. For some ideas, check out this great list created by the Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence: 15 WAYS YOU CAN HELP STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

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