Young people, parents and teachers are being urged to spot the signs of abusive relationships among teenagers and recognise unacceptable and harmful behaviour.
The call has gone out from a partnership of organisations as part of a campaign launched by Staffordshire County Council this week. Treated Badly aims to raise awareness of abusive behaviour in relationships between young people. The launch took place at Stafford College today and the campaign will now be featured at other events across the county.
A website, Facebook page, YouTube channel and Twitter feed have been set up to help young people to recognise the types of abuse. This can include controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, physical, psychological, emotional, financial and sexual abuse. Through the website, young people can take a ‘healthy relationship’ test and identify if they may be suffering from or perpetrating abuse; and where to go for help and advice. They can access the website at www.treatedbadly.co.uk
The campaign, funded by Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire Matthew Ellis, aims to change attitudes early. Too many young people have experienced some form of emotional or other form of abuse from a partner and may have misconceptions about what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour in a relationship. It is being backed by a range of organisations, young people, local musicians and now features in school lessons.
Parents and teachers are also being urged to get involved and can find out more through the improved Staffordshire Cares website, which features a new area to help parents spot the warning signs and talk to their child about relationship abuse www.staffordshirecares.info/treatedbadly
Mr Ellis said: “Tackling abuse in relationships by intervening at the earliest possible stage is crucial – which is why I’m funding such an important campaign.
“It’s also critical that victims of this type of abusive behaviour get the support they need to help them develop healthy relationships. This campaign is about working together to raise awareness to stop people becoming victims in the first place.”
Staffordshire County Council’s community safety leader Mark Sutton, who attended the launch today, said: “The Treated Badly campaign is all about recognising unacceptable and harmful behaviour, and addressing these issues at an early stage. Having healthy relationships is extremely important no matter what age you are, but research suggests that a lot of young people in particular may not be aware of what constitutes abuse.
“This campaign aims to let all young people know what is and isn’t acceptable in a relationship, and where they can go to get help. It’s not just about victims either; we want to raise the awareness of perpetrators too, so they can take a look at their own behaviour and address it as early as possible.
“To make this a success we need to work together so people can get the advice and support they need, which in turn will give them greater confidence to put a stop to unacceptable behaviour.”
Beverley Smith, principal of Stafford College, said: “We are happy to make our facilities available to launch the Treated Badly campaign and hope that this event has helped to raise awareness of such a worthy cause.”