Focusing on Teen Dating Abuse & Violence During 2021 Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Legal Momentum’s National Judicial Education Program announces our new suite of resources on Teen Dating Abuse and Violence (TDAV) for judges, court personnel, justice system professionals and others, produced with funding from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women.

“People think that intimate partner violence among adolescents is less serious than among adults. It’s important to highlight that this can really lead to death. It’s not something to brush off as ‘This is just an argument between kids.’”

Dr. Avanti Adhia, Epidemiologist, University of Washington School of Medicine National Public Radio Public Health, Spring 2019

• Intimate partner violence affects not only millions of adults in the United States annually, but millions of teens and young adults. 
• 1 in 3 young people will be in an abusive or unhealthy relationship in their adolescence
• Every year, 1.5 million high school students across the US will be subjected to physical abuse by an intimate partner
• Sexual abuse in teen relationships can begin with very young victims and involve reproductive coercion and sex trafficking
• 7 % of adolescent homicides are committed by intimate partners; 90% of victims are female

Teen Dating Abuse & Violence is a scourge as epidemic, harmful, and potentially lethal as adult domestic violence. Unchecked, teen dating abuse and violence can entrench a lifetime pattern of perpetration by abusers and acceptance of abuse by victims. The rapidly growing national awareness of teen dating abuse and violence presents an opportunity for judges, court personnel, justice system professionals and others to protect victims, intervene with perpetrators, and educate the communities they serve on their role in prevention.

The teen years are a period of peak learning capacity and potential for change. Through training on this issue, judges and other court personnel have the ability to intercept dangerous relationships and provide an opportunity for teens and young adults to foster future healthy relationship habits.

The National Judicial Education Program has created a variety of resources to increase awareness on this issue. The full suite of resources can be found on our website in several formats. The Resources Guide can be found at https://www.legalmomentum.org/sites/default/files/reports/TDAV%20Resourc...

· A Comprehensive Curriculum Composed of Six Subject Matter Slide Decks

        o Dynamics and Consequences

        o Sexual Abuse & Assault

        o The Teenage Brain: Nature vs. Nurture, Neuroscience and Aces

        o Technology, Social Media & the Role of Electronic Evidence

        o Issues for LGBTQ+ Teens

        o Victim Safety, Offender Accountability & Judicial Leadership

· Shorter Myths vs Facts Sample Presentations

· Teen Dating Abuse and Violence Information Sheets

· Webinars made with the Minnesota Judicial Branch, now publicly available

Working closely with the Minnesota Judicial Branch Domestic and a Sexual Violence Analyst, the National Judicial Education Program created three webinars now posted on the Minnesota Judicial Branch website and publicly available. These webinars utilize the information developed for the six in-depth slide decks. They include video clips made by Minnesota judges and court personnel, a Minnesota licensed social worker with extensive experience with teen dating abuse and violence, and representatives of the Violence Free Minnesota Youth Advisory Board, who worked with NJEP as we developed these webinars