Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month TDVAM is an opportunity to create awareness across Turtle Island about Teen Dating Violence, uplift youth voices, and healthy relationship skill building, and connect young people with resources to help cultivate safety in their relationships. Many Native peoples have the teaching that we are all related, our clans and kinship systems show us how we are connected to each other.
Taking care of ourselves and each other is how we practice being good relatives. It starts with cultivating healthy relationships when we are young. Teen dating violence is an issue in Indian Country that we should understand and actively work to end. It often occurs between the ages of but can start as young as 11 years old. Many young Native people are suffering in silence. Nobody deserves to be abused. We should be talking about the reality of Teen Dating Violence even if many do not see it.
Relationships should be based on respect and care and not power and control. Native teens deserve to be taught healthy coping and relationship skills like consent and boundaries and prevent Teen Dating Violence. We need support services for survivors of teen dating violence so young people can get the help they need. TDVAM is an opportunity to empower youth to help their peers know where to go or who to talk to if one of their friends confides in them about experiencing dating abuse.
Our goal is to empower teens to demand safety in their relationships and uplift their voices. Help support Native youth by raising awareness about Teen Dating Violence and promoting healthy relationships. Folks can register for the webinar on the NIWRC website and learn how to recognize the signs of teen dating violence and where to get help.
Comment a quick hello! Teen Dating Violence, Defined. Teen Dating Violence is a type of relationship violence that occurs between young people. It is defined as when a person uses a pattern of abusive behavior toward their partner to gain power and control over them. Teen Dating violence can include one or more types of abuse, and can look like this:. If your friend or relative is being abusive, find ways to let them know their behavior is not acceptable.
