loveisrespect Blog

Liz Claiborne, the founding sponsor of the Helpline, has made a loveisrespect t-shirt available on their website. They’re the same t-shirts our staff and peer advocates wear when they’re out representing the Helpline. Plus, a piece of each sale benefits loveisrespect, so check it out!

Tween and Teen Dating Violence and Abuse Study

Here’s a quick link to the study featured on the CBS Early Morning Show today, co-sponsored by loveisrespect and conducted by TRU.

Today in Florida, a new dating violence bill will be signed into law. The Barwick/Ruschak Act was named after two victims of dating violence, Tiffany Barwick and Michael Ruschack. On September 24, 2007 both were killed by Barwick’s ex-boyfriend. Only hours before Barwick and Ruschack went to the police station to report an email death threat sent by the ex.

The new law will provide the same rights to those in a dating violence situation as those in domestic violence situations. The families of the victims will be present at the signing.

Learn more about the bill here and here.

loveisrespect staff and loveisrespect spokesperson, Camille Winbush, (Thanks Camille!) visited a Los Angeles area high school recently to spread the word about dating abuse and the National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline.

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Jennifer Ann’s Group recently named the winners in it’s 2008 Life. Love. Game Design Challenge. Please check out these games, designed to help prevent dating abuse - they’re the first we’ve ever seen.

Jennifer Ann’s Group is an organization started by Drew Crecente in honor of his daughter, Jennifer. Jennifer was murdered by her ex-boyfriend on February 15, 2006. 

Unfortunately, two teenagers on their way to their prom in Chester, CA were killed by an ex-boyfriend of the female victim. More information on the story can be found here.

Yesterday, students from local Westlake High School held a press conference in the helpline room to talk about prom, teen dating abuse, and the fundraiser they hosted in benefit of the helpline earlier this spring.

On March 29th, students from the clubs GET MAD (Girls Engaged to Make a Difference) and GENTS (Guys Exhibiting Needed Traits in Society) hosted A Day to Shine, a fundraiser centered around a fashion show featuring prom wear. The fasion show was followed by speaker, Jaslene Gonzalez, from American’s Next Top Model.

 Tim Gunn, chief creative director for Liz Claiborne and star of Bravo’s Project Runway, was gracious enough to stop by our office for a visit while in Austin this morning. Tim served as one of the judges for our Dating Bill of Rights video contest last year. Some of our volunteer peer advocates showed up early to demonstrate our live chat for him. Volunteers, staff, (and everyone else in the building) were very excited to meet him.

We were very excited to find out that loveisrespect.org has been nominated for a Webby Award. The People’s Voice Webby’s are open to public voting - and there’s tons of categories for websites, online video, and other interactive technology. Visit http://pv.webbyawards.com/ to register, check out all the great websites, and vote. You’ll find loveisrespect.org in the Society- ACTIVISM category (along with a few other great nominees).

It’s been five years since 15-year old Ortralla Mosley, a high school sophmore, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in a hallway at Reagan High School in Austin. This weekend, Carolyn Mosley, Ortralla’s mother, held a memorial and press conference commemorating Ortralla’s death and promoting awareness of teen dating violence. You can learn more about Ortralla’s story by visiting the Myspace page for the Ortralla Foundation.

When an abusive relationship ends in murder, it often receives media attention that can last for years. While we think this a good thing, we do want to stress that many people are involved in controlling or abusive relationships that aren’t physically abusive. Often, an abuser becomes more violent and more dangerous after a break-up. We hope that stories like Ortralla’s will reach teens that may never think their relationship could get to this point.