Resources

Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM) is a national effort to raise awareness and protect teens from violence. How can you make a difference?  By encouraging your school, community-based organizations, tribal leaders, parents, and teens to join together to prevent teen dating violence– both at home and in our communities. Those of us in Native communities often hear jokes about “Indian lovin” as waking up with a hickey and a black eye—that’s not love, it’s dating violence. The NativeLove project gives us the opportunity to reframe what NativeLove really is, so we can change our thoughts and actions to restore how we love, honor, and treat each other, which is characterized by respect, kindness, and compassion.

TDVAM TOOLS AND RESOURCES-

• Take the NativeLove Survey and enter for a chance win a gift card to thentvs.com, beyondbuckskin.com, nsrgnts.com, or any other Native owned business. The first prize winner will be awarded $250 with a $50 award for our second-place winner to be used at sistersky.com. We hope that you will help the NativeLove team and our important work with the youth by sharing your voice!
• SHARE: TDVAM digital cards on social media. NativeLove will be posting an information fact or statistic addressing teen dating violence each week of February. Native youth form the heart of our cultural survival as Native peoples, you have the power to create positive change in your community to end this epidemic. Join the conversation with #NativeLoveIs and #TDVAM.
• SAVE THE DATE: Review the TDVAM Calendar (See attached document) and schedule into your calendar. Want help promoting your school or community’s activities? Send your TDVAM event activities to predcorn@niwrc.org and we will post on our social media channels!
  • TWEET CIRCLE: Play the #N8vLove Game just in time for Valentine’s Day! Please join us on Tuesday, February 13^th, 3pmHST/4pm AKST/5pm PST/6pm MST/7pm CST/8pm EST on Twitter using #N8vLove & #TDVAM. The NativeLove team is pleased to partner with the StrongHearts Native Helpline, We R Native, Native Alliance Against Violence (Oklahoma Tribal Coalition), Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (New Mexico Tribal Coalition) & That’s Not Cool for a Tweet Circle! *We fully acknowledge that healthy relationships are not a game or a joke. EVERYONE deserves to be in healthy and happy relationships.
  • Thursday, Feb. 8^th, 8pm EST/7pm CST/5pm Pacific- #ImAnActivist Twitter Chat with NativeLove, Break the Cycle, and more. As part of the #ImAnActivist campaign and storytelling initiative, @NationalDVAM will host a Twitter Chat to life up and learn from young activist leaders working to advance social justice.  National, state, and local partners who aspire to embrace intergenerational, intersectional approaches to social transformation can benefit from the expertise of young activists in this dialogue.
  • February Photo Challenge by Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (CSVANW). Share & repost daily photo challenges using #CSVANW, #CSVANWYOUTH, #WEARETHEMOVEMENT.
  • Tuesday, Feb. 13^th, Wear Orange Day is a national day of awareness to wear orange in honor of Teen DV Month. You can wear orange shirts, nail polish, ribbons, jewelry, shoes or anything else you can think of! Tell people why you are wearing orange and post pictures and updates on Twitter & Instagram using the hashtags #Orange4Love, #HandsUnite and #RespectWeek2018.
• WATCH: NativeLoveIs videos. In a joint project of the Indian Law Resource Center (Indianlaw.org), the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (niwrc.org) and Buffalo Nickel Creative (buffalonickelcreative.com) produced videos to define Native love. The project focuses on raising awareness about violence against Native women and empowering Native people to speak out about traditional cultural values that honor and respect Native women.
• CALL: StrongHearts Native Helpline at 1 (844) 762-8483 during Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm CST. StrongHearts Native Helpline is a culturally appropriate, confidential service for Native Americans affected by domestic violence and dating violence.
• ORGANIZE A SCHOOL/COMMUNITY ACTIVITY: Want to celebrate Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM) this February? Take Action! Here are some ideas for you to consider in helping raise awareness about teen dating violence in your school or community (See attached document).
• SUPPORT: NativeLove and purchase a NativeLove t-shirt!
• EXPLORE: NativeLove Online Toolkit for Youth. To offer support to youth, NIWRC will showcase various toolkits and resources on a broad spectrum of wellness with the NativeLove Resources and Tools 
• EXPLORE: NativeLove Online Toolkit for Educators, Coaches, and Mentors. Our NativeLove project encourages youth to rethink what Native Love means to them, and empower them to define healthy relationships for themselves this is with the aim of promoting non-violent, respectful, safe relationships among Native youth, their families, communities, cultures, & Nations.
• EXPLORE: NIWRC’S Online special collections for teens. This Special Collection is developed to highlight the issues, resources and other suggestions for engaging Native youth in our communities about healthy relationships and related tools. The Special Collection organizes information, resources, tips and curricula drawn from the wealth of information gathered from partner organizations, experts from the field, and other allies from the web. Specifically, in this Collection, will be resources on cultural issues, national sources, statistics, topical issues and approaches, existing programs, available material and resources to create awareness and promote important discussions about teen dating violence within our Native communities. 
• DOWNLOAD: “2017 State of Native Youth Report: Our Identities as Civic Power.” By The Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute.
• DOWNLOAD: “Combating Trafficking: Native Youth Toolkit on Human Trafficking.” By Administration for Native Americans, Administration for Children & Families Office of Trafficking in Persons and Department of Health and Human Services.
• TeenDVMonth.org’s “Signs of Teen Dating Violence”
• NRCDV’s list of TDVAM resources