Create Your Statement’s mission is to bring education and awareness to the prevention of dating abuse while developing leadership and character development among today’s youth. Our desire is for young men and women to understand their personal value and strengths before they are in a situation that they do not understand. Because dating abuse is centered around power and control, Create Your Statement is focused on lowering the dial of domestic violence as a whole by providing prevention strategies to help young people in the hopes to prevent further victims of dating violence.
Why Focus on Young People?
- Girls and young women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence — almost triple the national average.
- Among female victims of intimate partner violence, 94% of those age 16-19 and 70% of those age 20-24 were victimized by a current or former boyfriend or girlfriend.
- Violent behavior typically begins between the ages of 12 and 18.
- The severity of intimate partner violence is often greater in cases where the pattern of abuse was established in adolescence.
While we bring a solid foundation of education and statistics to the table, we also focus on leadership, empowerment, and healthy relationships. Although our curricula discusses warning signs and abusive behavior, today we want to focus on respect and what love is. We are advocates for healthy boundaries between young people. This is the foundation for the rest of their lives and we want them to know that when someone loves you, they respect you. They respect your personal space, your boundaries, your needs, wants and desires. Respect is one of the greatest expressions of love. It is friendship, understanding, communication and commitment. In teaching this we are creating a guideline for true and genuine relationships. Create Your Statement by no means promotes dating, however if young people decide to enter into a dating relationship we want them to be educated and safe. AWARENESS, PREVENTION AND LEADERSHIP ARE KEY!