loveisrespect Blog

Have you ever designed a shirt?  Do you like free prizes?  Have I got your attention yet?  BOM411.com has just launched its Design Not Drama campaign.  The campaign is a T-shirt contest that helps get the word out about domestic violence.  What a cool way to tell people about dating abuse!  The purpose of the campaign is to emphasize that “relationships come in all shapes and sizes… and they will involve some sort of drama.  How you decide to deal with that drama is up to you.”  

The contest is open to all California residents ages 15-19, and all entries are due December 5^, at 11:30 p.m. (for all you procrastinators, I recommend starting on your design before 11:29).  If you are not a resident of California, you should check out the T-shirt design anyway. 

CAUTION: The T-shirt design is highly addictive.  You may lose track of time while making your T-shirt, so make sure to have a clock nearby (in case you have to go to school, or in my case, get back to work).  

The winner of the contest receives a $1000 Apple gift card, 20 prints of his/her winning design, and a posting on the BOM411 website!  In other words, you could get a lot of cool stuff for expressing yourself.  We always have posted ways and tips for you to express your creativity to tell people about dating abuse, and we are ecstatic to hear that BOM411 knows that you guys are as creative as we have been saying!  (Also, free stuff never hurts.)  Below is a link to the contest.  Good luck to all participants… design your hearts out. 

Contest Link: http://www.designnotdrama.com/

Hey, did you see High School Musical 3 or SAW IV? 

In case you have been living under a rock (or have not seen the movie), we ran an ad before the start of movies in parts of California and in parts of Texas .  The ad asks a simple question: “Does your relationship need a makeover?”  The question makes you think about your current relationship, drawing attention to the fact that you have rights and deserve to be in a healthy relationship.  We now have a quiz on our website (www.loveisrespect.org or on our Youtube account at ) that asks about your relationship.

We want to hear what you thought about our ad?  Think about all the times you have to be quiet: at school, during a movie (especially High School Musical 3), at church, when your parents are talking to you… the list could go on forever.  Basically, you have to be quiet forever, and your opinion is not highly valued.  We think differently! 

Tell us anything you want, good or bad.  Was the ad cool or stupid?  What parts were your favorites?  Did you tell your friends about the ad?  If you were in charge of making the ad, what would you have done differently?

If you have any questions or want to talk more about the quiz, call or chat with us (oh yeah, we have a chat service that you can access on our website).  This is your chance to be heard, so speak out!     

To Write Love on Her Arms is an awareness campaign for the prevention of self injury, suicide, addiction, and depression. These things are all big aspects of dating abuse, and things we hear every day form callers and chatters. The stress and trauma of abuse can lead to depression and addiction in teens. We want to keep destructive decisions out of the equation and encourage teens to seek help and an outlet that is healthy and will allow for the greatest chance of recovery and success. Help spread the awareness for To Write Love on Her Arms project, by simply writing the word “Love” on your arm and spreading the word about this worthy cause.

www.twloha.com or visit their MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/towriteloveonherarms

On September 30th, the National Domestic Violence Hotline answered its two millionth call.  This milestone represents two million families that have received help and hope since the Hotline’s inception in 1996. This call came as the need for the Hotline continues to grow.  During 2008, the call volume for the Hotline has increased by approximately 1,000 more calls per month.

The Hotline received over 230,000 calls in 2007 with its monthly call volume averaging over 19,500 calls. As the number of calls have climbed steadily in 2008, some months have seen a 10% to 15% increase over the same months the previous year. Answering this increased volume of calls places significant strain on the Hotline’s resources. Unfortunately, this results in a longer wait time for callers needing to get to safety, and a increased number of callers hanging up, both of which can be dangerous in violent situations. To address this issue the Hotline has increased volunteer recruitment for advocates.  For more inforamtion about the huge milestone reached by the Hotline please visit www.ndvh.org!

We keep getting alerts about youth driven Domestic Violence Awareness Month events across the country, and we wanted to give a few some attention here -

• The Women’s Center at University of Nebraska - Lincoln is hosting a Week Without Violence from Oct 13-18. Check out the full lineup of events - among them is the Clothesline Project. Students will create a t-shirt and hang them on a clothesline for display.
• New Canaan students got the word out with purple ribbons and purple awareness bracelets as part of an anti-bullying week.

October isn’t over people! There’s still time to do your own thing (and let us know about it).

October is just around the corner, especially if you’re planning events for Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). Though teen dating abuse has it’s own awareness week in February, obviously the issue of teen dating abuse and domestic violence overlap. Teens are involved in abusive relationships. They have friends that are involved in abusive relationships. They also live in homes with domestic violence.   

Teens should be recognized and involved during DVAM. During the month of October, we’ll be on the lookout for teens involved in domestic violence awareness events.

If you don’t know what’s being planned for DVAM in your area or you’d like to get involved, try contacting your local domestic violence program (one of our advocates can help you locate it), your school, or even your state coalition on domestic violence. So far, we’ve seen walks, vigils, benefit art displays, and donation drives on calendars across the country. If there isn’t anything planned in your area - consider doing it yourself. We’ll be featuring some DIY DVAM ideas here during the next few weeks.