One in five. According to a 2001 Harvard School of Public Health study, one in five female public high school students in Massachusetts experienced physical and/or sexual violence from their dating partners. Like millions of adults, teens are often victims of dating violence.

Add to that the three to ten million children who witness domestic violence each year, and the 900,000 children who are abused or neglected, and you have a huge number of young people in this country whose lives are affected – sometimes shaped – by violence.

The Family Violence Prevention Fund is doing innovative work to address the nation’s epidemic of dating violence. Through outreach to boys and men, work in our schools, and public service campaigns aimed at youth, the FVPF is helping to keep teens safe and stop violence before it ever begins.

Building Healthy Teen Relationships
Preventing intimate partner violence begins with ensuring that young people's first relationships are healthy ones. Building Healthy Teen Relationships, is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation administered by the Family Violence Prevention Fund to support the creation and evaluation of comprehensive community-based models of prevention that aim to decrease relationship violence and increase positive, protective relationship skills among 10 to 14-year-olds. By strengthening the supports for developing healthy relationships among adolescents at the individual, interpersonal, community, and policy levels, we believe we can reduce the cycle of violence and incidence of intimate partner violence later in life. Learn more

Teen Action Campaign: See It and Stop It
The Teen Action Campaign, See It and Stop It, is an unprecedented multi-media public education campaign by and for teens. It offers posters, radio and television public service announcements, an online toolkit, and valuable information on how to recognize the warning signs of dating violence, how to stop it, and how to make a difference in your school and community. See It and Stop It was developed by teens in Massachusetts, with support from the Family Violence Prevention Fund and The Advertising Council. Learn more

Connect: A new mini-magazine for parents!
This valuable resource will help parents engage teens and adolescents in discussions about violence against women. The feature articles, personal stories, advice columns, and informative facts inspire dialogue between parents and young people that will help foster healthy, non-violent relationships through adolescence and beyond. Check it out!

Coaches Corner: Get the new Coaching Boys into Men Playbook
"There's only one thing more satisfying than helping a young man become a great basketball player – helping a basketball player become a great young man." (John Thompson, Sr.; Hall of Fame Coach, Georgetown University).

Demeaning, disrespectful, and violent attitudes toward women are underlying causes of other major societal ills such as school violence, community violence and crime. Every coach (and mentor) is in a position that allows him to directly influence the attitudes of his athletes and to help eliminate the disrespectful perceptions of women and girls that are at the heart of such tragic problems. The Coaching Boys into Men Playbook provides coaching tips, advice and useful anecdotes from great coaches and players to help other coaches take the issue of violence against women and girls head on. Get it now!