Council Proclaims February Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

Contact: Cheryl Kravitz 301-580-8905

For immediate release: Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich and Montgomery County Council Vice President Sidney Katz will proclaim February 2019 as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month in Montgomery County. A proclamation will be issued on Tuesday, February 12 at 1:30 pm in the third-floor hearing room at the Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue in Rockville.

The proclamation asks the community to recognize the pervasive problem of teen dating violence, to engage in education and prevention efforts, to support individuals in the process of seeking services, and to spread the word about help available through the Montgomery County Family Justice Center.

Members of the Montgomery County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council (DVCC) will attend the meeting and will be wearing orange. In 2010, Congress announced that the entire month of February would be deemed National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month and orange will signify awareness of teen dating violence prevention.

The DVCC offers the Choose Respect teen dating violence prevention initiative, which includes educational programs, an annual conference, a public service announcement competition and programs for teen athletes. Choose Respect Montgomery's mission is to promote respect in dating relationships and to raise community awareness about the prevalence of teen dating violence.

According to Debbie Feinstein, Chief of the Special Victims Division in the State’s Attorney’s office, one in three females and one in seven males report experiencing teen dating violence, one in 10 Maryland high school students report experiencing physical violence in a dating relationship and one in 10 report experiencing sexual dating violence in a dating relationship.

This year’s Choose Respect conference will be held April 7, 2019 from 12:30 PM – 5:00 PM at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. Students, parents and youth-serving providers are invited. It is the 10th anniversary of the initiative. Registration for the event can be found through this link: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/fjc/chooserespect/.

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