Hays, KS - Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month is dedicated to raising awareness about healthy and unhealthy relationships, warning signs and prevention. Adolescents and adults are often unaware that teens experience dating violence. Unfortunately, it affects millions of teens in the U.S. each year. In 2010, to help raise awareness, the U.S. Congress enhanced what had been Teen Dating Violence Awareness Week to Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, based on the rising number of incidents in teens ages 11-17 across the country.
 
According to the 2017 Youth Behavior Surveillance Study report, nearly 1 in 11 female and 1 in 15 male high school students report having experienced physical dating violence. In addition, about 1 in 9 female and 1 in 36 male high school students report having experienced sexual dating violence. According to the Center of Disease Control, during the pre-teen and teen years, it is critical for youth to begin learning the skills needed to create and maintain healthy relationships (Preventing teen dating violence, 2020).

Unhealthy or violent relationships can have severe short and long-term effects on a developing teen. Studies show teens who experience relationship violence face additional risk for developing a violent relationship later in life. In addition, they are likely to develop depression, abuse substances, or think about suicide. As a community, we have a responsibility to make dating and domestic violence an intolerable act – anytime, anywhere. Jana’s Campaign is encouraged people of Hays and surrounding communities recognize this as a social issue that can be eradicated. We are extremely grateful for the hundreds of people who believe in the #PowerOfPrevention and help support and fund our work.
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To do our part for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, Jana’s Campaign has developed a Teen Dating Violence Awareness Toolkit to help communities understand, prevent and better respond to teen dating violence. The toolkit is free and can be found on the Jana’s Campaign website, www.janascampaign.org/awareness-toolkits.html. Additionally, Jana’s Campaign will post facts and statistics about Teen Dating Violence on our social media accounts throughout the month of February.
 
We believe through education we can change and improve attitudes, behaviors, customs, interactions, relations and social norms. Since 2013, Jana’s Campaign has worked with over 600 middle and high schools impacting over 73,000 students, including 6,065 K-12 students in Ellis County to educate about and prevent against gender and relationship violence. We commend these schools for understanding the importance of talking to their students about healthy and unhealthy relationships.
 
Throughout February and beyond, please join us in our efforts to educate and raise awareness about the hidden social disease of gender and relationship violence, dating and domestic violence, sexual violence and stalking. Learn more about Teen Dating Violence, our Teen Dating Violence Awareness Toolkit and Jana’s Campaign at www.janascampaign.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you are interested in inviting Jana’s Campaign  to your school or community, please contact us at janascampaign@gmail.com or call us at 785-656-0324.

(Hays, KS) - January is National Stalking Awareness Month. Nearly 1 in 6 women and 1 in 17 men have experienced stalking victimization at some point in their life (SPARC, 2018).

Stalking is defined as a pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. It occurs in many different forms, including being followed/approached, unsolicited and repetitive phone calls or texts, unwanted notes or gifts, as well as showing up at the targeted person’s workplace or home. Stalking is a crime in all 50 states, U.S. Territories, the District of Columbia, and military and tribal lands. Although, the crime of stalking is often misunderstood, minimized and/or ignored.

Stalking is a terrifying and psychologically harmful crime as well as a predictor of other forms of serious violence. In 85% of cases where an intimate partner or ex intimate partner attempted to murder their partner, stalking took place in the year prior to the attack (SPARC, 2019). The behaviors used to stalk are manipulative tools used to gain power and keep control over another person. Victims of stalking often feel isolated, intimidated, fearful, and vulnerable.

Tips to consider if you or someone you know is being stalked:

1. Trust your instincts. Many times we tend to downplay a stalker’s behaviors, but stalking can possess a real threat.
   
2. Keep a record or log of any contact a stalker makes.
   
3. Since stalking can occur through technology, save emails, text messages, voicemails, or any posts online for evidence.
   
4. Contact your local domestic violence agency to create a safety plan.
   
5. Call 911 if you feel you are in danger.
   

​We, at Jana’s Campaign, believe we all have a role to play in identifying and preventing stalking behaviors as well as supporting victims and survivors. Learn more about these behaviors and how to prevent stalking by visiting www.stalkingawareness.org. 

Impact Report 2017-2019 - The Jana's Campaign 2017-2019 Impact Report is now available here.

(Hays, KS) – This week welcomes October and National Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM). Domestic violence is one of society’s largest social problems and it hides in plain sight. DVAM is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of these issues and share resources.
 
Nationally 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men have experienced gender-based violence by an intimate partner or ex-intimate partner (CDC, 2019). Domestic violence is a leading contributor of injuries, chronic health issues, high-risk health behaviors, and creates a significant strain on the healthcare system. Growing evidence shows the long-term impact of emotional and mental trauma from violence carries an additional likelihood of disease and illness.
 
Domestic violence takes on many forms. It can be verbal, emotional, psychological, digital, sexual, and/or physical abuse. It can be extreme jealousy, possessiveness, unwanted touching, coercion, and excessive arguments. And it is ALL about power and control. Domestic violence occurs in every community across the country, and can happen to anyone regardless of age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or economic status. In Kansas alone, domestic violence claimed 37 lives in 2018 (KBI, 2018).

Throughout the month of October, Jana’s Campaign pledges to share 31 facts about domestic violence on our social media accounts. A fact per day. Our hope is that you increase your understanding of this complex issue and utilize the information to become a part of the collective voice of individuals, families, activists, institutions, and systems who are working to prevent domestic violence. To access this information, please follow Jana’s Campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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“Violence is a learned behavior, and we can unlearn violence. The only way we can create a society that does not accept violence, is to become educated on the issue and then start a conversation about what we know. While I know these conversations can be uncomfortable, I also know that no social issue has been solved by not talking about it.” Kaiti Dinges, Executive Director of Jana’s Campaign.

https://www.wibw.com/2020/09/17/doj-helps-protect-women-grants-500000-to-ywca/  ​

The Jana's Campaign Summer 2020 newsletter is now available here. 

Hays, KS – Jana’s Campaign is delighted to announce a $4,000 grant to expand our prevention education efforts throughout Ellis County, through the generous support of the Heartland Community Foundation and the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. This grant will allow for an extension of our successful work to reduce teen dating violence through prevention education, including bystander intervention trainings, virtual faculty trainings, and the development of prevention programs for K-5th grade students.
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As Jana’s Campaign works to reduce gender and relationship violence, it is clear that an in-depth, comprehensive prevention education strategy must take priority. Nationally, one in three adolescents report being hit, slapped, stalked, sexually assaulted, or emotionally abused by a dating partner (CDC, 2017). Studies show that violent behaviors typically begin between the ages of 12 and 18, then escalate. Assessment from our own work in Kansas confirms these statistics. This grant will allow us to further expand leadership development strategies into our violence prevention programming in Ellis County.
Strengthening student leaders’ knowledge and skills can further empower students to increase their ability to recognize warning signs of gender violence, promote healthy relationship behaviors, and establish a peer culture where social norms are supportive and include active bystander behaviors that confront bullying and gender violence.
 
“We are excited and honored that the Heartland Community Foundation continues to invest in our work and the mission of preventing gender and relationship violence,” said Kaiti Dinges, Jana’s Campaign Executive Director. “The approach and focus of Jana’s Campaign is on prevention education. We believe that education is the most powerful tool to create social change. Through education, students can change and improve social attitudes, behaviors, interactions, and norms.”
 
The Heartland Community Foundation was founded on September 6th, 2007, to serve as a vehicle for charitable giving benefiting the Ellis, Rooks and Trego Counties. Their mission is to enhance quality of life, today and in the future, by:

• Enabling donors to fulfill their charitable desires,
• Building a permanent endowment,
• Facilitating prudent management and care of funds,
• Meeting needs through grants, awards, and scholarships.

 
To learn more, please visit http://heartlandcommunityfoundation.org/

The Winter 2020 Jana's Campaign newsletter is now available for viewing here.