');
	document.write('

February 28, 2013

Dear Chief State School Officers,

President  Obama has proclaimed February 2013 National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and  Prevention Month.1  This proclamation is the latest in a series of  efforts by the Administration to create safer communities for young women by raising  public awareness of gender-based violence, educating communities about how violence  affects women and youths, and encouraging new efforts to prevent and respond to  violence.  At the same time, we recognize  that gender-based violence affects boys and girls of all ages (from every  socioeconomic group, race, religion, and sexual orientation; in all regions of  the country; and in schools of every type), and its consequences can be  significant for victims and their communities.   As educators and administrators, you play an important role in protecting  your students from victimization and its long-lasting effects on health and  life outcomes.  I want to inform you of  the Department's recent efforts to support you and your school communities in  preventing teen dating violence and other forms of gender-based violence.

Gender-based  violence may include, but is not limited to, sexual assault, intimate partner  or teen dating violence, and stalking.  Gender-based  violence may also include other behaviors that degrade and harm children and  youths, such as human trafficking.

While  these forms of violence can affect any member of the school community, girls  typically face disproportionate rates of victimization, and that victimization  can begin very early.2  Many types of gender-based violence occur  as early as elementary school.3  Of those who have ever experienced rape,  physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner, about 1 in 5 women and  nearly 1 in 7 men were first victimized between 11 and 17 years of age.4

Gender-based  violence has serious consequences for victims and their schools. Witnessing  violence has been associated with decreased school attendance and academic  performance.5  Further, teenage victims of physical dating  violence are more likely than their non-abused peers to smoke, use drugs,  engage in unhealthy dieting (e.g., taking diet pills or laxatives, vomiting to  lose weight), engage in risky sexual behaviors, and attempt or consider  suicide.6  Sex trafficking has devastating consequences  for minors, including long-lasting physical and psychological trauma, disease  (including HIV/AIDS), drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, social  ostracism, and even death.7  Although  all victims of gender-based violence are affected negatively, research reveals  that female victims of dating violence often experience more severe and  longer-lasting consequences than do male victims.8,9

Research  shows that schools can make a difference in preventing teen violence and other  forms of gender-based violence.10  As with most of the risk factors threatening  the health and safety of our students, we should work to create safe school  climates by strengthening students' social and emotional skills, by developing educator  capacity to engage students and families, and by implementing multitiered  behavioral supports.11  However, such efforts are only the first step  in preventing gender-based violence.  Schools  should educate their communities about prevention and identification, and develop  locally tailored responses to address incidences of teen dating violence, stalking,  sexual assault, and trafficking.  Without  a comprehensive approach that takes into account the unique challenges that  these offenses present (e.g., victim reluctance to report, trauma from sexual  violence), we will not be successful in reducing the number of school-aged victims,  in providing effective support to traumatized youths, or in addressing the  behavior and needs of perpetrators.

I urge you to take action and consider  how your school community will reduce gender-based violence.  Enclosed is the *What Schools Can Do*brief, which provides you with simple  activities and resources to help you reduce gender-based violence and its consequences.   Included are sample definitions of  behaviors associated with gender-based violence that may be helpful to you and  your community in understanding this critically important issue.  Further, the Department's National Center on  Safe Supportive Learning Environments recently released a new teen dating violence  training module – *Get Smart, Get Help,  Get Safe*12 – to build the capacity of specialized instructional support personnel to develop  comprehensive school policies regarding teen dating violence, and to identify  and respond appropriately to signs of abuse.

I  look forward to continuing our work together to promote safe and respectful  schools for America's students.

| | Sincerely, 
| | -----------
| | /s/        
| | Arne Duncan

Enclosure download filesMS Word (197 KB)

1 www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/01/31/presidential-proclamation-national-teen-dating-violence-awareness-and-pr


2 Black, M.C., Basile, K.C.,  Breiding, M.J., Smith, S.G., Walters, M.L., Merrick, M.T., Chen, J., &  Stevens, M.R. 2011.  The National  Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report.  Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for  Disease Control and Prevention.


3 Ibid.


4 Ibid.


5 Eaton, D.K., Davis, K.S.,  Barrios, L., Brener, N.D., & Noonan, R.K. 2007. Associations of dating  violence victimization with lifetime participation, co-occurrence, and early  initiation of risk behaviors among U.S. high school students. *Journal of Interpersonal Violence* 22:  585–602.


6 Silverman, J.G., Raj, A., Mucci,  L.A., & Hathaway, J.E. 2001. Dating violence against adolescent girls and  associated substance use, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk behavior,  pregnancy, and suicidality. *Journal of  the American Medical Association* 286 (5): 572-579.


7 Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. 2013. What is modern slavery? U.S.  Department of State. www.state.gov/j/tip/what/index.htm.


8 Ackard, D.M.,  M.E. Eisenberg, & Neumark–Sztainer, D.  2007. Long–term impact of adolescent dating  violence on the behavioral and psychological health of male and female youth. *Journal  of Pediatrics*151 (5): 476–481.


9 NISVS: 2010 Summary Report.


10 Taylor, B., Stein, N.D., Woods,  D., Mumford, E. 2011. Shifting Boundaries: Final Report on an Experimental  Evaluation of a Youth Dating Violence Program in New York City Middle Schools. U.S.  Department of Justice. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236175.pdf.


11 For Federal assistance regarding  multitiered behavioral supports, please see the Office of Special Education  Programs’ Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (www.pbis.org) and the National Center on  Response to Intervention (www.rti4success.org).


12 For more information about *Get Smart, Get Help, Get Safe*, please  see the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments at http://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/index.php?id=1511.