Published on: Wednesday, November 23, 2011

By Helen Hocknell

Preventing teen dating violence is the major focus for the recently elected Chair of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council.

County Councilmember Phil Andrews is the chair of the council founded in 2006 with the goal of reducing the incidence of domestic violence in the County.

 “Our primary focus is reaching out to young people,” said Andrews. “The only way to make fundamental changes to the incidence of teen dating violence is to change the attitude about it among young people, starting from the ground up.” Andrews said that’s why the DVCC will continue to focus on peer-to-peer outreach, and use methods like guest speakers and performances by actors illustrating domestic violence in high schools and middle schools. 

The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services research shows as many as one in three teens will experience dating violence, and two-thirds of victims will never report it. Dating violence is defined as physical, sexual, or psychological abuse within a dating relationship. Examples include hitting or punching, forced sexual contact, or threats of violence. About 10 to 20 percent of high school teenagers are physically injured by a dating partner each year, and unlike adult intimate partner violence, rates of being the abuser are similar for adolescent boys and girls according to the American Medical Association.

 “Teens will listen more to other teens. Having speakers that young people can identify with is important, and age is one way for them to connect – victims may be powerful people to have speak as well.”

“Getting into the schools was critical,” said Hannah Sasson, who served two years as chair of the DVCC and was elected as vice chair this year. Sassoon is director of the Montgomery County Family Justice center, which was created by the Council and opened in May 2009 to provide a central location where victims of domestic violence could go to meet with detectives, attorneys, advocates, counselors and other service providers. “It’s a one-stop shop. It makes things easier for victims, and for providers,” said Sassoon.

“I’m so glad to see Phil Andrews as chair of the DVCC – he is committed to this issue,” said Sassoon, who has worked at the Sheriff’s office for 11 years, and on domestic violence issues for more than 25 years. “He has been a tremendous supporter, and we’re very grateful.” 

Sassoon explained that they researched national campaigns aimed at curbing teen dating violence when developing the programs that have been used in Montgomery County Public Schools. Cindy Mogel, who is on staff at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and serves on the DVCC, said they had several objectives.

“We wanted to illustrate what healthy relationships look like, show some examples of roles in relationships, provide information about national and local resources, and address the bystander effect so kids know what they can do when they witness teen dating violence,” explained Mogel.

“Youth perspective is an asset,” said Mogel. She said this is one of the reasons she’s glad the DVCC has another student member from a local high school serving again this year, and that outreach efforts have included the creation of a “Choose Respect Montgomery” Facebook.com page. “With the technology that’s being used to stalk and harass teen victims more frequently these days, it’s really important that we be able to reach teens using social media,” explained Mogel.

The DVCC also coordinates an annual Public Service Announcement contest open to any 7-12th grade students. The challenge is to research the subject and create an original video under a minute long to promote dating abuse awareness among teens. Submissions are due February 14, during National Teen Dating Violence Prevention and Awareness Month. The third annual Choose Respect Montgomery Teen Dating Conference will be held at the Takoma Park Campus of Montgomery College on Saturday, March 24

For more information on the PSA contest and conference, visit:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/fjctmpl.asp?url=/content/fjc/news.asp

For more information about teen dating violence, please visit:

http://www.loveisrespect.org/

If you are a victim of domestic violence:

Montgomery County Family Justice Center: 240-773-0444

Montgomery County 24-hour Crisis Line: 240-777-4000

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233