Youth Over Teen Dating Violence

Over 200 people gathered at last week’s Violence-Free Teens Conference organized by Peace Over Violence. In its fourth year, this conference brings together prevention educators, teachers, parents, and especially youth, to share ideas and resources to prevent teen dating violence and promote healthy relationships and communities. Through theater, flash mobs, presentations, policy and networking I saw some of the best work in prevention.

Keynote speaker Lyn Mikel Brown described the work done to combat the sexualization of girls through effort like Healthy Girls Hearty Women, SPARK Summit and Powered by Girl. She described each of these efforts as demonstrating how “fighting like a girl” means being an activist to promote change. I especially liked the Projection Project as a creative way to use the arts to build a movement.

We learned about the exciting work done by Start Strong Los Angeles and the 13 other Start Strong sites. By hearing the voices of youth, I am reminded how much their work will take prevention to the next level.

Soon I will share my presentation on trends in teen dating violence prevention. Thanks Peace Over Violence for this event.