Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month Proclamation

Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020 - Pep Rally is 8:30 a.m.; Proclamation is at 9:30 a.m.)

WHEREAS,  one in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence, and

WHEREAS, intimate partner violence often begins in adolescence, with 25% of male and female survivors identifying their first experiences of intimate partner violence as occurring during teen relationships, and

WHEREAS, the 2018-2019 Fairfax County Youth Survey indicates that almost 90% of teens that had been sexually harassed anywhere from 1 to 40 times in the past twelve months have also considered suicide, with 83.6% of those teens actually attempting suicide, and 

WHEREAS, working with youth to help them build social-emotional skills, such as empathy, respect, healthy communication, and conflict resolution skills, promotes the development and expectation of mutually respectful, caring, and nonviolent relationships, and

WHEREAS, engaging teens and adults to promote social norms that support healthy relationships has great potential to transform our communities so that teen dating violence is not acceptable and everyone has access to the tools to intervene when they witness teen dating violence, and

WHEREAS, we must work together to create a world where every teen can live free of dating and sexual violence in their homes, schools, colleges, universities, and communities,

BE IT RESOLVED that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors hereby proclaim the month of February 2020 as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month in Fairfax County.

(return to Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month)