White House Proclamation on National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month Directs Public to VetoViolence
Banyan Communications, a public health and creative communications consultancy headquartered in Atlanta, celebrates the recognition of its longstanding violence prevention work for CDC.
Banyan Communications (Banyan), a long-time communications partner for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Division of Violence Prevention (DVP), is celebrating presidential recognition of one of its most successful DVP collaborations, VetoViolence. A White House proclamation recognizing February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month calls out VetoViolence as a website offering free tools and training programs to help communities prevent and address teen dating violence.
“We have released a range of new resources to equip communities with effective tools to prevent and address teen dating violence,” states the proclamation signed by the 46th President of the United States Joseph R. Biden. “These tools will help teens stay safe online and when they use electronic devices; help colleges and universities respond effectively to dating violence, sexual assault, stalking and other forms of abuse; and provide resources and trainings that prevent abuse and promote healthy relationships. Information on these programs, as well as other resources, are available at VetoViolence.CDC.gov.”
Banyan and DVP launched VetoViolence in 2009 and have added new or updated violence prevention strategies every year. A popular VetoViolence resource is the Dating Matters® Toolkit, a comprehensive model for teaching healthy relationship skills to 11- to 14-year-olds. The toolkit provides program materials and interactive trainings for program facilitators, educators, and anyone interested in implementing the program in their community.
“Every person, in every relationship, deserves to live and love safely,” said Sally Deval, founder and CEO of Banyan. “The White House proclamation underscores that teen dating violence poses a significant public health problem, not just a problem for the people directly involved. We’re honored to support DVP’s efforts to promote healthy relationships and stop violence before it starts.”
In 2021, the VetoViolence website experienced 2.4 million pageviews and attracted more than 142,000 visitors. Those usage numbers surpassed any other year since the website launched.
About CDC’s Division of Violence Prevention (DVP)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) as the lead federal organization for violence prevention in 1992. The Division of Violence Prevention (DVP) is one of three divisions within NCIPC. DVP focuses on primary prevention—stopping violence before it begins—so that all people, families, and communities are safe, healthy, and free from violence.
About Banyan Communications (Banyan)
Banyan Communications is a creative communications consultancy with a mission to create change for good. The agency’s talented professionals use research and human-centered design to develop strategies, messages, visuals, tools, trainings, and experiences that engage, educate, and empower audiences. Banyan partners with its public health, government, and nonprofit clients to address some of the world's most pressing health and social issues—violence, health inequities, substance use disorder, eating disorders, homelessness, infection prevention, patient safety, public safety, environmental hazards, climate change, and much more. Founded in 1995, Banyan is a woman-owned small business committed to making all internal and organizational decisions and producing work based on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) standards.