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6 Tips for Parents Talking About Dating Abuse
Parents who suspect their child is in an unhealthy relationship may not know how to help. Parents can begin discussing healthy relationships and signs of dating abuse with their children before they even begin dating. Here are six tips on how parents can navigate having conversations about dating violence with their children.
1. Educate yourself.
A wrenching dilemma
Across the country, decades’ worth of rape kits are finally being tested, but no one can agree on what to do next. A story of good intentions—and government blunders.
Rape is the only crime where the victim is treated like a suspect, investigator says
Texas Chief Investigator and Sexual Assault Investigation Trainer, Wayne Springer, says an officer’s job is to collect and send the facts, not pass judgment. “This is the only crime you'll ever see that the victim becomes the accused almost instantly,” Springer explains.
Heartbreaking PSA highlights the massive backlog of untested rape kits
A new public service announcement is shining a much-needed light on the thousands of rape kits that go untested every year in the U.S.
The Joyful Heart Foundation, which created the PSA, estimates that hundreds of thousands of rape kits are sitting untested in law enforcement facilities around the country due to the lack of resources and funding. “Shelved” lays out in 60 seconds the far-reaching impacts of this backlog.
Shelved PSA Spotlights the Rape Kit Backlog
Joyful Heart launched today a new national PSA campaign, Shelved, to raise awareness about the untested rape kit backlog and engage the public in helping us solve this problem. Through this campaign, we are seeking to activate grassroots support for our work in state capitols around the country to change the way rape kits are handled, expand survivors’ rights, and ensure every single kit is tested. Every single kit, in every state.
One Love Foundation Partnership Highlights Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
This Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, Joyful Heart Foundation and One Love Foundation are partnering to share information about healthy and unhealthy relationships. We will provide tips to help adults talk to young people about relationship violence, resources for you or a friend who may be in an abusive relationship, tools to support a survivor, and ways to get involved in stopping and preventing teen dating violence.
Survivors Take Center Stage
As the first of the more than 150 survivors came forward to make their statements in the sentencing hearing of Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics doctor, the Joyful Heart staff was meeting with another survivor advocate from the sports world: Bridie Farrell, a nationally recognized speed skater and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by a teammate.
Stars Say "Time's Up" at 75th Annual Golden Globes
At the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday night, dozens of women took to the stage, the red carpet, and the internet to share a message: time’s up on abuse, harassment, and assault.
2017 In Review: Thank You For Sharing Our Joyful Journey
Hope. Joy. Possibility. We were founded on these values and in 2017, they are at the heart of everything we do.
The volume on the conversation about sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse is up and getting louder every day as all eyes, ears, and hearts are turned toward these issues. The collective voices of survivors are powerful, strong, and undeniable. We are surrounded by meaningful change. And we aren’t going back.
It’s been an extraordinary year for our work at Joyful Heart.
A Call to Men: #IWILLSPEAKUP
Every day, a new story about sexual assault, abuse, and harassment emerges. We are witnessing survivors coming forward to share their personal stories in a way we have not seen before. Celebrities, our friends, our sisters, our daughters, and ourselves—are speaking out about these experiences. From the simple yet powerful #MeToo to women’s detailed personal accounts in news stories and op-eds, this violence is at the forefront of our attention. The volume of the conversation is way up, getting louder, and showing no sign of stopping. It is inescapable.
