Dating abuse is a common occurrence in our communities and throughout the country. AVDA’s Harris County dating abuse prevention helps those in dating relationships to create healthy relationships and reduce the prevalence of abuse.
- Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.
- One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.
- One in ten high school students has been purposefully hit, slapped, or physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Harris County Abuse Prevention Counseling Goals
AVDA’s goals of their dating abuse prevention in Harris County include:
- Broaden an understanding of domestic abuse (emotional, verbal, sexual, psychological, physical)
- Help to foster healthy, mutually respectful relationships
- Educate on bystander intervention so participants may help friends and others
AVDA’s Youth and Outreach Program conducts the nationally-acclaimed Safe Dates program with youth across the Greater Houston area, typically in schools and for at-risk youth in detention facilities. Safe Dates is a school-based prevention program for middle and high school students designed to stop or prevent the initiation of dating violence victimization and perpetration, including the psychological, physical, and sexual abuse that may occur between youths involved in a dating relationship.
Contact AVDA today
We use our dating abuse relationship program in Harris County to reach thousands of people in outlying areas as well. AVDA has their main Harris County dating abuse relationship office in downtown Houston, but if this is a journey from where you live, do not worry about it. Our outreach specialists travel across the area bringing prevention and intervention into outlying areas to ensure that all have access to this important information. Contact AVDA for more info on our counseling and abuse prevention services.