Project Safe Breaking Silence Initiative

A word on this week’s blog:

Emma Boardman, a Direct Service Intern at Project Safe, Inc. is bringing information on an initiative to end dating violence through education and early prevention to this week’s blog. Breaking Silence is a confidential textline, available 24/7, to help domestic violence survivors find counseling, local resources, evidence-based advice, and emotional support from Project Safe advocates. Emma explains why the service was originally intended for adolescents and how Breaking Silence has grown to assist domestic violence survivors of all ages.

Emma Boardman, Direct Service Intern

Project Safe, Inc.

Breaking Silence is a Project Safe initiative to end dating violence through education and early prevention. The confidential textline, originally created to support adolescents, can be reached 24/7 at 706-765-8019. Project Safe advocates can assist texters in finding counseling, locating local resources, providing emotional support, giving evidence-based advice, and more. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Breaking Silence textline has become a resource for domestic violence survivors of all ages. But why, you may ask, did Project Safe start Breaking Silence with the focus on adolescents?

One of the most significant predictors for experiencing or perpetuating dating violence in adulthood is whether an individual has witnessed and/or personally been in abusive relationship(s) in their adolescence. This complex phenomenon is known as Intergenerational Transmission of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Research has shown that relationships that an individual sees or enters into in their youth tend to model relationship norms they come to expect as adults. For example, if an individual grows up in an environment with a parent who frequently physically and verbally abuses another parent, they are more likely to accept that behavior as normal in their own intimate relationships. This is especially so if the individual does not have access to outside resources that can show them what a healthy, non-abusive relationship looks like. Even without first-hand experience of an abusive relationship, young people are not always taught to see certain behaviors as abusive. Some controlling behaviors are so subtle that it can be hard for individuals to see them for what they are. Additionally, with the expansion of technology comes new controlling behaviors that are even more difficult for people of all ages to identify. These factors led to an increasing need for additional support.

Data from the CDC’s 2020 Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey indicates that nearly 1 in 11 female and approximately 1 in 14 male high school students report having experienced physical dating violence in the last year. This survey also found that about 1 in 8 female and 1 in 26 male high school students report having experienced sexual dating violence in the last year. Additionally, it was found that, among adult victims of rape, physical violence and/or stalking by a dating partner, 22.4% of women & 15% of men first experienced some form of partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age. This phenomenon of IPV is not restricted to people over the age of 18.

Prevention of IPV and moves to end intergenerational cycles of abuse have to begin with young people. It starts with expanding the availability of information and resources. It is estimated that teaching young people about healthy relationships and red flags to avoid can reduce physical and sexual dating violence between adolescents by 60%. Project Safe’s Breaking Silence Initiative helps teens and young adults to recognize and avoid unhealthy relationships by providing 24/7 texting support, information about relationships, and referrals to counseling or outreach assistance. Members of the Breaking Silence team are also available to give presentations to schools and organizations who are interested. 

Intimate Partner Violence and other forms of violence against individuals, like human trafficking, are often sustained by a lack of access to preventative information. Expanding access to these resources is fundamental in the fight for survivors of domestic abuse and human trafficking.