loveisrespect Blog

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.

Today marks the first day of National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week. Check out our toolkit for spreading awareness of teen dating abuse this week in your school or community. And if there are activities going on in your area this week that you’d like us to know about, leave us a comment.

Today we posted the five finalists for our Dating Bill of Rights Video Contest. Please take the time to watch these videos and vote for your favorite. Voting will close on the 21st - and then we’ll announce our three winners.

We really appreciate the time and effort every entrant put into their video. Also, we want to say thanks to our wonderful celebrity judges (Tim Gunn, Jaslene Gonzalez, and Ann Shoket) for narrowing it down to five finalists for us.

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.