LatinaLista — One of the worst times in a woman or young girl’s life is when she feels “beaten” down, physically and emotionally, by the man in her life to whom she’s professed her most personal gift — her love.
Unfortunately, this feeling goes beyond breaking up with someone, it’s all about the violence used against the woman/girl to make her stay with that guy. It takes a lot of inner strength to survive domestic violence and dating violence, and it takes a lot of courage to talk about the issue.
Founders of the Boston-based The R.O.S.E. Fund: Regaining One’s Self Esteem say:
We believe this issue is where the ‘Breast Cancer’ issue was in the 1980’s: a serious and prevalent health issue affecting millions of women that very few people knew much about–an issue that was not spoken of publically, and one that was often associated in hush terms with shame and embarrassment.
One of the main objectives of The R.O.S.E. Fund is to raise awareness about domestic violence and teen dating violence. The organization has a number of initiatives in place to help them achieve their goal.
1. Fact sheets on “The Cycle of Power and Control”
2. The ROSE high school report card where students fill out an online survey. The data is then given to the principals to know what the situation is in his/her schools.
3. ROSE Reconstructive Surgery Program is a partnership with hospitals and doctors across New England, who provide a range of free medical and surgical care to women disfigured by acts of domestic violence.
To help further their message, the ROSE Fund 500 was created to fundraise to help transform more high schools and communities regarding the silence surrounding domestic and teen dating violence.
We’re focused on transforming high schools, colleges and communities from ‘Unaware and Unprepared’ to ‘Informed and Effective’ in fully understanding and addressing these issues.
At the ROSE Fund, we envision a day where the awareness about both the effects and early signs of domestic and teen dating violence are widely known and understood.
We strive for a community where people are vigilant about identifying and intervening at the early stages of an unhealthy and abusive relationship: where women’s resource centers are spending more of their time, energy and expertise on education, early intervention and prevention and less of their time on safety planning, counseling and crisis management.
