Project Title: The (real) Talk: How to Start the Right Conversations with Your Kids & Keep Having
Them
One in four girls and one in six boys will be a victim of sexual violence before they graduate high school. Once they leave home, risks of sexual violence increase even more: college women are at three times greater risk for sexual violence and women not in college experience a four times greater risk for sexual violence. Violence against LGBTQ+ youth is at even higher rates and in one study, 81% of transgender youth reported experiencing sexual violence. And with more relationships beginning virtually and through apps, youth are left trying to navigate even greater risks from online predators.
Victims are harmed in the places where they should be safe – at school, in their neighborhoods and in their homes. Dating and sexual violence is preventable, and parents are well positioned to be their children’s best and most consistent teachers. When it comes to the subject of healthy relationships, parents are often ill-equipped. Barriers include their own history of domestic and sexual violence, limited experience identifying healthy vs unhealthy relationships, discomfort with discussing sensitive topics and a lack of information about prevention strategies.
With Impact100’s support, WEAVE will create a toolkit of robust resources designed for parents/caregivers and young people. This toolkit will include content designed to stimulate an ongoing conversation that is age and developmentally appropriate, responds to the different lived experiences of families in our region, responds to cultural differences, and respects the vast range of identities and relationships of parents/caregivers and their children.
WEAVE’s mission is to promote safe and healthy relationships and support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and sex trafficking. WEAVE trains over 8,000 youth and 12,000 adults through prevention programs annually and is well positioned to lead in developing the toolkit. WEAVE will leverage Impact100 funding to complete the toolkit, estimated to cost $156,000.
