loveisrespect Blog

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!     

This morning we found out that loveisrespect.org is the Webby Award Winner in the category of Activism. We’re so excited that our website and live chat advocacy was recognized. We’re still working to improve our site and fill it with useful content and we’re always open to suggestions. Leave a comment or send us an email if you have any input.

Check out the the Webby Awards website for a full list of winners. Thanks to all who took the time to vote for us in the People’s Voice awards - and congratulations to Invisible Children for picking up that honor.

We’re really excited to post our PSA featuring Camille Winbush.  Check it out here and by visiting our new YouTube non-profit channel.

Ashley Hoyle, the winner of our Teen Dating Bill of Rights video contest, met with Tim Gunn and Jaslene Gonzalez during her trip to NYC (the first place prize) last week. We heard she had a great time, and we’re so glad she helped kick off Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week.

Her hometown newspaper, the Wichita Eagle, ran a nice story about Ashley and the story behind her winning video. We’d like to thank Ashley again for her time and efforts. We hope her story will reach others experiencing dating abuse in their relationship.

We’d also really like to thank her teacher, Brian Latta, who generated the interest in our video contest within his classroom.

In her article, Too often, teen dating poses hidden risk, for the LA Times Dr. Valerie Ulene includes some quotes from our president and a referral to our phone number and website.

• * Surviving victims from a tragic incident in Colorado Springs concerning dating violence are still in the hospital . Our number is given as one referral in this article.
• * loveisrespect has a new way to connect with you - our Facebook Page.
• * New entries have arrived for our video contest - and you can still enter too. The deadline is December 1st. Voting will begin in December.

We wanted to thank The Today Show for including the segment Is Your Teen Being Abused? on this morning’s show. The guest, Sara (a member of the Liz Claiborne Teen Task Force), did a great job of telling her story of surviving an abusive dating relationship. Plus, at the end of the segment our phone number and website was given and we saw an immediate increase in number of calls and visits to our website- which we always love.

For now, you can view the segment through The Today Show website.