We were recently contacted by musician Mars (MarsRaps) who sent us a video he made in response to hearing that 1 out of 4 women had an experience with domestic violence. After hearing that stat, he felt that he needed to say something, so he wrote this:
He then challenged his fans to help him spread the word about domestic violence through tweeting or facebooking their commitment with the hashtag #TakeAStand.
We are always excited when people find their own way to start talk about safe, healthy relationships. With October (Domestic Violence Awareness Month) right around the corner, we encourage you to start thinking about what you could do.
We love when people lend their voices to worthy causes. Good job Mars!
Why do we love MTV’s “A Thin Line†campaign? Because issues like digital disrespect, sexting, spying, and cyber bulling are things that affect so many teens. When our lives are filtered through our personal profiles and cell phones, it can be hard to know what is normal when it comes to internet/phone interactions. After all, often no one else sees your texts but you.
But that’s where athinline.org comes in. It has tons of teens talking about tech issues like that. Between videos, blog posts, quizzes and more, it’s a good place to get a lot of information. And if you need to talk to someone, MTV has listed our number and chat so you can discuss your thoughts with one our peer dating advocates.
So we’re very happy to see that MTV has been nominated for one of the biggest broadcasting awards around, the Golden Beacon Award. We wish them luck.
Listen to Jason Rzepka, VP of MTV’s Public Affairs discuss “A Thin Line” in an interview with JustMeans:
Things got serious on the Real World last week. Fans watched as cast member Jemmye opened up about being in an abusive relationship and began seeking counseling on last week’s show.
Jemmye had an eye-opening moment after she had a breakdown after a day of heavy partying. She returned to the house and started breaking things, cussing the other house-mates out and refused to go to bed. It was during this tirade that Jemmye began to reveal things about her past relationship.
Read more about the events of the show in the Baltimore Sun’s write-up.
With the help of her roommate, Knight, Jemmye seeks help at a women’s shelter nearby. She begins talking about the situation and makes a commitment to go to counseling regularly. Watch the clip:
At the end of the show, our helpline number ran, encouraging anyone who is in an abusive relationship, or knows of someone in an abusive relationship, to call for support.
After the Scott and Kourtney started arguing, muffled thuds came from behind their closed door and Kim Kardashian, holding Kourtney’s son in another room, started calling out to her sister with concern. Kourtney soon emerged from the bedroom and locked herself in Kim’s room. Kourtney later revealed that Scott had sprung out of bed, grabbed her arm and that she smacked him across the face. The girls left the apartment immediately, and soon after, Scott punched a mirror, smashing both the glass and his hand.
The show’s season finale deals with the aftermath of this incident.
If you find yourself in a situation where you feel unsafe, remember you can always talk to someone anonymously at the loveisrespect National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline 1-866-331-9474.
Have you seen Eminem’s new video, featuring Rihanna, Love the Way You Lie? The video portrays a violent relationship between two characters, but as actor Dominic Monaghan tells MTV news, ’”I think we tried as hard as we could to not glorify the violence, to try and explain that this was a relationship that is by no means ideal and a relationship that probably should have ended a lot sooner than it did.”‘
loveisrespect is proud to unveil the interactive Teen Power and Control Wheel! It is adapted from the Domestic Violence Power and Control Wheel and is customized to address dating violence issues experienced by teens. Each spoke of the wheel addresses a different tactic abusers employ in order to control their partner. By clicking on each spoke of the wheel you can view the video diary of a scenario that corresponds with that description. This wheel is a great tool for conducting your own discussions about teen dating abuse and brainstorming possible resolutions. Click here to check it out!
The following Video Diary depicts a common type of abuse teens may experience in relationships – anger/emotional abuse. This is characterized by someone putting you down, making you feel bad about yourself, name calling, playing mind games, humiliation, making you feel guilty or making you think you are crazy.
Natalie’s boyfriend Mike is mean, makes fun of her and calls her names. These are all red flags of an unhealthy relationship. View the video and read our peer advocate advice on addressing this situation after the jump.
There is a great highlights video we wanted to share with you from the Start Strong Austin Kick Off event for Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month. Recorded at the Carver Museum, this video spotlights all the great entertainment acts and performances from the event. For those of you unable to attend the event, check out the video after the jump. Read more…
As you all know this is the first year that Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention is being honored for a whole month instead of the first week of February as it has been in the past. This is largely thanks to the support and influence of several U.S. Senators as well as Vice President Joe Biden. Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Joseph Lieberman(I-CT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have been huge supporters of moving the awareness up to a month and we are very grateful for their hard work. We have a video clip of the Senators along with Attorney General Tom Perelli discussing teen dating violence awareness and prevention after the jump, so check it out! Read more…
Boston teens have a message to send to Chris Brown in response to the recent apology video he released: your apology is not enough. Teen peer leaders in the Start Strong program decided to speak out as both fans of Chris Brown and young people concerned about the issue of teen dating violence. Check out the response video below, or click here to view the full story. These teens have also created an online petition via Facebook, titled: “A Message to Chris Brown.â€
loveisrespect is proud to unveil the interactive Teen Power and Control Wheel! It is adapted from the Domestic Violence Power and Control Wheel and is customized to address dating violence issues experienced by teens. Each spoke of the wheel addresses a different tactic abusers employ in order to control their partner. By clicking on each spoke of the wheel you can view the video diary of a scenario that corresponds with that description. This wheel is a great tool for conducting your own discussions about teen dating abuse and brainstorming possible resolutions. 
