February 2024
Every February, young people, their loved ones and other caring individuals join together across the country for a national effort to raise awareness about the issue of teen dating violence through Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM). This annual, month-long push focuses on advocacy and education to stop dating abuse before it starts.
Dating violence is, unfortunately, very common especially among teens and young adults. One in three teens in the US will experience physical, sexual, or emotional abuse from someone they’re in a relationship with before they become adults, and nearly half (43%) of college women report experiencing violent or abusive dating behaviors.
“We are so excited to be participating in TDVAM again this year and hosting our 2nd annual Cookies & Consent fundraiser! The theme for 2024 is 'Love Like That.' This is a call to action not only for young people, but for adults as well, to exemplify and amplify what healthy love looks and feel like.” said Erin Ostling Burkholder, director of outreach & prevention.
To help raise awareness of teen dating violence, and to support our efforts to teach healthy and safe relationships to teens, the prevention program at Crime Victim Services is hosting a Cookies & Consent Cookie Kit fundraiser. Each cookie kit is $20 and contains:
1 dozen unfrosted sugar cookies
2 piping bags of homemade buttercream frosting
1 oz package of sprinkles
Cookies kits are pre-order only on our website and can be picked up from the Crime Victim Services offices at 234 N. Main in Lima or 338 E. Third St in Ottawa, on Friday, February 23 from 10am- 3pm.
You can also join us for Wear Orange Day on February 6. Orange is the color of teen dating violence awareness so wear orange as often as you can during February and follow Crime Victim Services on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about how to prevent, recognize, and respond to instances of dating violence amongst teens. Follow the hashtag #TDVAM.
The prevention program at Crime Victim Services began in 2012 and provides culturally appropriate educational curriculum to youth and adults with the express purpose of preventing relationship violence and cultivating a culture where consent and respect for one another is a central tenet. With over 25 years of combined professional education experience, prevention educators deliver an evidence-based curriculum which meets the core educational requirements of the Ohio Department of Education and Erin’s Law.