Project Sanctuary Trains Youth Advocates to Prevent Teen Dating Violence

By: Molly Rosenthal, Healthy Mendocino Coast Coordinator

Last year, Project Sanctuary's coast office opened their Teen Center, a hub for young people to receive walk-in support and resources, complete homework, or just unwind and connect with their peers in a welcoming space. Two youth interns along with organization staff helped local teens get acquainted and serve as an ear for them to air their frustrations with home, friends, or romantic partners.

The Teen Center was open less than a year before the shelter-in-place order hit, leaving Alexandra Corzano, Prevention Educator at Project Sanctuary, to figure out how to get basic prevention material to youth who were now isolated in their homes.

The pre-teen and teenage years are a critical time for dating violence prevention education and support. Much of what we know about healthy relationships, boundaries, and communication we learn in our formative years of adolescence and in our first relationships. Additionally, many young people have not yet developed the tools to practice emotional regulation or emotional maturity and require extra support in navigating the complexities and nuances of intimate relationships.

Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that nearly 1 in 11 female and approximately 1 in 15 male high school students report having experienced physical dating violence in the last year. Additionally, 26% of women and 15% of men who were victims of contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime first experienced these or other forms of violence by that partner before age 18. The burden is not shared equally—minority groups are disproportionately affected by all forms of violence, and some racial/ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by many types of violence.

While we have seen a dramatic global increase in domestic violence reports since the pandemic began, it is challenging to discern if there has also been a spike in teen dating violence during this trying time. According to Corzano, teen dating violence is rarely reported and is challenging to identify even under normal circumstances because youth tend to be secretive and not forthcoming with adults about their interpersonal conflicts.

“Teens tend not to share with adults about issues in their relationships and they don’t identify certain issues as abusive behavior---that’s why prevention outreach at this age is so important,” said Corzano. “When they do share, we find there is a higher level of frustration and fear that what they are experiencing is never going to end, so there’s a lot of room for blow-ups. If you don’t have the language to express what’s going on with you or what’s missing in relationships, it is a recipe for disaster.”

Knowing that the best way to reach young people is through their peers, Corzano created the Youth Advocate Training Program, a COVID-safe class that engages youth countywide in creative prevention messaging and education that will make an impact among their friends and classmates. In addition to providing career pathway training and professional skills development for its Youth Advocates, the goals of the program are to elevate youth voices in the areas of domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health, and social justice; equip young people with all the information and tools to support each other; and empower them in delivering powerful messaging to their peers.

“Young people who go through this training have all the same knowledge that I have. There is no gatekeeping,” said Corzano. “At a certain point you age out of doing prevention work. The idea is to make it so they don’t need me anymore.”

The training is open to all youth countywide aged 12-19, regardless of whether they are enrolled in school. There are two-parts: Part One is a class titled Ending Sexual Violence Education and Peer Educator Training akin to the regular Project Sanctuary volunteer training. This 6-hour class contains an  overview of intimacy, the importance of platonic relationships, creating support networks, boundaries, characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships, consent, sexual violence and how to report it, and bystander intervention. Part One also includes presentations in school classrooms that help school districts fulfill their California Healthy Youth Act requirement in the emotional intelligence criteria.

Part Two of the training begins with a quiz that tests the youth participants’ comprehension of information shared in Part One. If the induvial passes, he will be designated as a Youth Advocate and paid for any future work with the Project Sanctuary during that school year (Corzano shares that in her time presenting the program to classrooms, one-third of students indicate they are interested in becoming a Youth Advocate before they even begin the training). A grant from Mendocino County Public Health Department has enabled Project Sanctuary to offer a $15/hour stipend for Youth Advocates to produce original outreach projects that will engage their peers. Any organization or agency can recommend a project for the Youth Advocates to try, however the Advocates have full choice over the projects they want to pursue. Projects can focus on any issue facing youth, including substance abuse, vaping, gangs, sexual assault and consent, to name a few.

February is National Teen Dating Violence Prevention Month (TDVAM) and for the first time Project Sanctuary is putting their annual campaign strategy in the hands of all nine Youth Advocates. The Advocates have devised multiple social media strategies to reach their friends and raise awareness about teen dating violence in creative ways through skits, dances, educational pop-ups, and online information-sharing challenges with gift card rewards. Additionally, the Advocates will be promoting the use of virtual backgrounds in orange, the official TDVAM color, with positive messaging about healthy relationships.

For TDVAM, Project Sanctuary will be disseminating information about the Ending Sexual Violence Youth Advocate Program with the hope of filling the 16 available Youth Advocate slots for the 2020/2021 school year. Staff is also planning a “know the signs” community panel for parents and other adults in the community and to promote orange-wearing throughout the month to raise awareness about this important issue.

Once COVID is behind us and the Teen Center can resume in-person services, Corzano and Project Sanctuary plan to continue the Youth Advocate Training Program. While the core part of this training is purely educational and can always be completed virtually, they are hoping in the future to support young people in hosting retreats and events where young people are able to connect face-to-face to discuss issues facing their peers.

“It’s not just about ending sexual and teen dating violence, it’s about empowering kids to take responsibility for their communities,” said Corzano.

For updates on Project Sanctuary’s Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month events, follow them on Facebook. Their calendar of events will be posted in mid-January. 

To enroll in the Virtual Youth Advocate Program, fill out this pre-survey and registration form.

Teen Dating Violence Resources:

Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Preventing Teen Dating Violence

Official Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month website

LoveisRespect.org