RAPP Teaches Teens About Healthy Relationships

Ending the cycle of violence begins with education and awareness. We are proud of our role as one of the first and the largest providers of teen relationship violence prevention services in New York City. Our RAPP – Relationship Abuse Prevention Program - teaches thousands of high school students NOT ONLY what constitutes consent - but how to have a healthy relationship. In the past decade and a half, the Center has designed, developed and implemented school-based teen relationship abuse prevention programs that have reached more than a million students with the message that healthy, equal, and consensual relationships are necessary for a hopeful future.

Teenagers involved in relationship abuse have a difficult time learning academic subjects. Girls experiencing relationship abuse feel self-conscious and afraid, do not want to go to school, and find it difficult to study.

[1]  Victims of teen relationship abuse often exhibit harmful behaviors, such as using alcohol, tobacco or drugs; becoming pregnant, and attempting suicide.

[2]  Adolescents who harm their dating partners are more aggressive and more depressed than their peers.

[3] The rise of social media has only exacerbated the effects of teen relationship abuse.

In RAPP, students learn how to identify what it means to have healthy relationships. RAPP stresses the importance of setting strong boundaries, and being able to assertively say how something makes a person feel. Our students are taught abusive relationships are about power and control; and, about the different types of abuse which are emotional, verbal, and physical. They can recognize abuse within a relationship, and know what healthy relationships looks like.

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[1] Lipson, J. (Ed.). (2001). Hostile hallways: bullying, teasing and sexual harassment in school. New York: AAUW Educational Foundation.

[2]  Silverman, J. G., Raj, A., Mucci, L. A., & Hathaway, J. E.  (2001). Dating violence against adolescent girls and associated substance use, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk behavior, pregnancy and suicidality. Journal of the American Medical Association, 286(5), 572-579.

[3] Centers for Disease Control. (2012). Understanding teen dating violence fact sheet. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen_dating_violence.html.

October Breakfast Artist: Jovan Martinez

We are honored to have Jovan Martinez speak and perform at our October Breakfast! Jovan is a poet and former Relationship Abuse Prevention Program peer leader. Jovan won the 2012 Rap 4 RAPP contest to raise awareness about our Teen RAPP program.

Come see Jovan at Transforming Lives Through the Arts!

In the meantime, watch her winning Rap 4 RAPP:

Throwback Thursday: RAPP Field Day

RAPP Peer Leaders from our Manhattan high schools got together for a picnic and field day. They got to know students from different schools, participated in team building activities, and celebrated the end of the school year. Visit saveteenrapp.org for more information about the groundbreaking Relationship Abuse Prevention Program, and find more photos of this event on our Facebook page.

 

Last Chance to Give in 2013

We at the Center Against Domestic Violence wish you all the best for a safe and violence-free 2014!

We know from your past support that you care about ending domestic violence, teen dating abuse and bullying.  That’s why we're reminding you that your final chance to make a tax deductible donation for 2013 is fast approaching.

Remember, all gifts to the Center Against Domestic Violence are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Thanks to your donations to the Center, a thousand women and children found safety in our shelters this year, and another 30,000 high school and intermediate school students learned how to have healthy relationships and how to end bullying and abuse.  The Center has been working hard to end abuse since 1976, but we need your help to support thousands of women, men, children and teens to live healthy, happy lives unthreatened by violence.

I hope you’ll join us as we prepare for another year of life saving and life changing services.  If you have already made your year end gift, thank you.  If you haven't donated yet, please click here to donate.

Thank you for all you do to end violence in relationships.

 

Happy new year!



Help us ring in 2014 - Give the Gift of Safety to survivors as they rebuild their lives in the new year.

Happy Holidays from our RAPP Peer Leaders

Thank you for being our ally. Your donations keep our Relationship Abuse Prevention Program running.

We wish you happiness and health.

Denim Day, April 2013

Denim Day, April 2013

 

 Save RAPP Rally, May 2013

 

 RAPP Peer Leader Picnic, June 2013

 

 Shine the Light to End Domestic Violence March, October 2013

 

CADV Fall Breakfast, October 2013

 

Happy Holidays!

 

--CADV RAPP Peer Leaders, 2013-2014

 

 

Support RAPP -- Give the Gift of Safety from dating abuse and bullying to NYC teens.



In 2013, With Your Help, We...

• Trained 267 RAPP peer leaders on teen relationship abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, and bullying, equipping them with skills and information to become leaders in eliminating abuse at their schools.

• Counseled 1,160 intermediate and high school students experiencing dating violence, bullying, or other issues.

• Taught 30,000 NYC public school students how to have healthy relationships and end bullying and abuse.

• Sheltered over 1,000 domestic violence survivors and their children, providing these families with a safe place to learn to break the cycle of violence and start life anew.

• Hosted over 40 survivors each week at our Spanish speaking and English speaking support groups.

• Provided counseling, advocacy, and referrals to 3,000 domestic violence survivors in the NYC community.

• Provided emergency assistance to over 813 survivors making it on their own in the community.

 

On behalf of the Center's residents, students, staff, and board -- Thank You. We couldn't have done it without you. 

 

 

Support our lifesaving programs - Give the Gift of Safety to thousands more in the upcoming year.

Join the Global Movement - Today is Giving Tuesday

Support NYC Youth Today

 

Donate

 

 

 

Give a life free from relationship violence for teens across New York City! All our children deserve a safe future to reach their highest potential. Support Teen Relationship Abuse Prevention Program - RAPP - a proven violence prevention program reaching almost 50,000 New York City teens each year.

 

Donate

 

Shine the Light on Domestic Violence

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.The Center Against Domestic Violence was once again a sponsor of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s impressive October 7 rally and light show, Shine the Light on Domestic Violence.

Times Square is sometimes called the crossroads of the world; what better place to light up some of the largest and brightest digital screens to bring awareness to domestic violence?

By turning landmarks around the city and state purple, Shine the Light on Domestic Violence, a statewide public awareness campaign, sparks discussion about this devastating problem that threatens the safety of too many New Yorkers.

Center staff, volunteers, and adult and teen participants stood shoulder to shoulder with other advocates as giant electronic billboards turned purple with messages of hope.  American Eagle, the Disney Store, the ABC Super Sign and many more told viewers about domestic violence, its impact and how to get help. Commissioner Yolanda Jimenez, the head of the NYC Office to Combat Domestic Violence, and playwright Eve Ensler spoke.

Click here for more photos.

Meet Author Emily Bazelon - October 18th

Fall is a time for beginnings.  It’s back to school time for the Relationship Abuse Prevention Program (RAPP), for Relationships are Elementary and for the 150 children in Center Against Domestic Violence shelters.  These programs can transform children and teens from victims to survivors to peer advocates; they teach young people skills to stand against bullying and teen relationship abuse by becoming responsible bystanders.

Two years ago, the Center’s Fall Breakfast at the Harvard Club looked at Bullying in the 21st Century.  We hosted a panel that included a RAPP social worker, a DA at the intersection of cyber-crimes and harassment, a survivor whose landmark case forced Google to release her harasser’s email address; a human rights advocate; and an intermediate school principal.  Everyone at the table agreed that bullying took a great toll on bystanders, and saw these witnesses as key to stopping bullying.  Acting to end the abuse they witnessed stopped bystanders from feeling powerless and ended their own victimization.

This fall we are taking a look at bullying through yet another lens.  On October 18 we will host a breakfast conversation with Slate senior editor and New York Times Magazine contributor Emily Bazelon.  Her highly acclaimed book, “Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy” explores teen bullying, what it is and what it isn’t, and how the rise of the Internet and social media make the experience more challenging.   She charts the experiences of bullied children and describes successful anti-bullying measures.  In “Sticks and Stones” Ms. Bazelon, a lawyer who is a Senior Research Scholar and Truman Capote Fellow for Creative Writing and Law at Yale Law School, reviews jurisprudence on bullying, and examines both the virtues and the pitfalls of treating bullying as a crime.  “Sticks and Stones” describes what parents can achieve, what schools can achieve, and what may come of the shifting power differential among parents, schools and social agencies.   She will be in conversation with a Center RAPP Coordinator, a veteran social worker stationed on a high school campus to  teach teens how to have healthy relationships.

Please join us on October 18 at the Harvard Club of NYC for breakfast and great conversation.  Purchase tickets here.

Facebook's Role in Perpetuating Domestic Violence

With over two billion users worldwide, Facebook wields more cultural influence than most governments.  How then did it respond when activists called Facebook to task for hate speech and misogynist images?

Even though Facebook has a system for identifying and removing hate speech until early this month language and imagery that glorifies violence against women were not removed.

What made the difference?  You and I made the difference – with over 5000 emails to Facebook advertisers, more than 60,000 Twitter posts and 224,000 signatures on a Change.org petition.

In response to the public outcry against posts that said things like “Don’t wrap it and tap it – Rape it and Tape it!” fifteen advertisers pulled their support from the ubiquitous social media site.  Facebook has promised to review and update the guidelines regarding hate speech on the site, and plans to increase the accountability of users who post hateful content.

More and more, online behavior influences behavior in the real world.  The Center Against Domestic Violence is dedicated to cultivating a society free from violence and abuse.  We drive cultural change through education and intervention.  Through our Relationship Abuse Prevention Program on fifteen campuses throughout New York City, the Center teaches 27,000 teens to be pro-social online and in the real world.

Our groundbreaking programs teach young people how to identify and avoid abuse so that they can develop healthy relationships.  The Center has added new units that address online behavior to our acclaimed Speak your Peace (intermediate school) and Pride Education Equality Respect – PEER (high school) curricula.  The acceptance of violence, gender inequality, harassment, and bullying, are not new – only the venue is new.  As citizens, parents, and activists, we need to condemn violence and create positive environments in both places.

The Center’s Relationship Abuse Prevention Program is a public/private partnership that depends on your contributions and your advocacy to continue.  Relationships are Elementary, the Center’s pilot program to teach elementary school students about healthy relationships, is completely funded by your contributions.

Together we can make this a safer world for ourselves and our children.

Funding for RAPP Will End in July - We Must Again SAVE RAPP

Mayor Bloomberg has eliminated Teen RAPP! (Relationship Abuse Prevention Program) from his preliminary budget for the next fiscal year. If RAPP’s funding is not restored, this highly successful and cost-effective relationship violence prevention and anti-bullying program—reaching over 40,000 public middle and high school students—will cease to exist in July.

Therefore, once again we must mobilize our supporters—RAPP students, teachers, principals, parents, social service providers, interested citizens—to join in our effort. We must send a clear message to the Mayor and City Council that RAPP works—and that they must restore the $3 million in funding that will allow Teen RAPP to continue to provide information and tools to help current and future generations of NYC youth break dangerous cycles of violence.

With your help over the past two years, we have been extremely successful in gaining the support of our local Councilmembers—resulting in the reinstatement of funding for Teen RAPP. We urge you to please join with us again by logging on to www.SaveTeenRAPP.org where you can instantly send a letter to the Mayor, City Council Speaker and your local elected officials.

Thank you in advance. Together we can save Teen RAPP!

Fall Breakfast 2012: Preventing College Dating and Sexual Violence

The Center Against Domestic Violence Presents

Building Healthy Relationships: Preventing Sexual Assault & Dating Violence on Campus

Audrey Meredith & Kyle Rosenbaum – Event Co-Chairs

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

8:00 am- 9:30 am

The Harvard Club

35 West 44th Street, NY

Join us for breakfast.

Hear from advocates dedicated to stopping sexual assault, harassment and dating violence on campus.  

Keynote Speaker 

Jovan Martinez

Former RAPP Peer Leader

Deborah M. Stuckey Family Scholarship Recipient

Junior -Virginia Commonwealth University

Moderator

Susan Xenarios

Director

St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Crime Victims Treatment Program

Panelists

Rhiannon Auriemma

Student Peer Health Advocate

The New School

Guarav Jashani

Coordinator, Men’s Peer Education Program

Columbia University

Emily May

Executive Director

Hollaback!