Programs to End Dating Violence

At Break the Cycle, we believe every young person should have access to the help they need to live free from violence and free from fear. From our offices in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, we have improved the lives of more than 150,000 youth nationwide. Our programs defy geographic bounds, reaching teens across the nation as they begin their first relationships.

Our services are comprehensive, reaching youth from every direction, in every stage of their dating lives. Today we focus our efforts on providing preventive education, encouraging youth activism and fostering systemic change.

Prevention

Break the Cycle’s preventive education program teaches teens about domestic violence, healthy relationships and the law. We have reached more than 100,000 young people with this evidence-based program, helping youth recognize that they have the right to safe and healthy relationships. Learn more about our in-person education and how to bring our curriculum to your community.

Activism

Break the Cycle’s youth activism program engages and trains young people to raise awareness about dating violence among their peers. Break the Cycle supports participants as they develop and implement youth-led, youth-driven projects. Read about our youth activists’ projects on The Safe Space.

Break the Cycle is expanding the reach of our youth activism program by providing all the tips and tools teens need to take action against domestic violence. Through web-based toolkits, youth nationwide will have access to the resources Break the Cycle once only offered through our in-person programs. Download our first toolkit: “It’s Their Issue: A simple and straightforward guide to turning youth into facilitators of Dating Violence 101.” This guide is intended to help the adult leaders and practitioners of Break the Cycle’s curriculum train youth participants to teach their peers about dating violence.

Advocacy & Intervention

Break the Cycle fosters systemic change through our technical assistance and intervention services.

Building on our direct experience working with youth, our new technical assistance program helps communities build the knowledge and tools they need to appropriately respond to youth experiencing dating violence. Together we can improve the systems, policies and procedures that impact the care and services provided to youth affected by this problem.

Along with training the adults nationwide who first respond to youth in crisis, Break the Cycle offers direct services to teens. Our web-based community, thesafespace.org, provides a meeting place and exhaustive resource for teens seeking information and support. Youth can ask confidential and specific questions online and over the phone. We guide them through the legal system and help them find appropriate support in their local community.