Brianna Joy: Students teach legislators about dating violence

Every year, 1.5 million adolescents are victims of dating violence. In the United States, that means 1 of every 3 adolescents at some point experience physical, sexual, emotional or verbal violence from their dating partners.

Enough.

In Stanislaus County, a group of young people have banded together to end adolescent relationship abuse. The Healthy And Responsible Relationships Troop – called HARRT – is working to educate the public and raise awareness for adolescent dating violence. The group has gotten support from the California Adolescent Health Collaborative, Golden Valley Health Centers, Haven Women’s Center of Stanislaus and the Blue Shield of California Foundation.

On March 1 and 2, the group – composed of Enochs High School and Riverbank High School students – visited the state Capitol in Sacramento to participate in a policy advocacy day and remind legislators about the importance of domestic violence legislation.

The group attended a training session conducted by the Partnership to End Domestic Violence. During the training, HARRT members learned about the importance of statewide funding, media attention and proposed bills that could help survivors of domestic violence.

HARRT members Marc Castellanos and London Riddle delivered a speech about HARRT and the fight to end domestic violence.

During the rally, the pair called for an end to the “blind eye” so often cast upon abusive teen relationships.

“The audience was really supportive and cheerful toward our speech,” Castellanos said. “Everything was really elegant and spectacular!”

“It was a really great experience,” Riddle said. She added that delivering her speech alongside Castellanos had been fun.

On March 2, HARRT visited the Capitol with other policy advocates and spoke to representatives from the state senators’ offices about pertinent issues.

“I was incredibly nervous beforehand,” said 18-year-old HARRT representative Vanessa Gonzalez. “I had no idea what it was going to be like and I felt unprepared. But I just kept reminding myself that my team was there to support me.”

After the meetings, Gonzalez was happy to have attended.

“I almost wish there had been more meetings,” she said.

The rest of HARRT members shared similar sentiments.

“I feel our trip was a success,” Gio Romero said. “Speaking to legislators made me nervous, but I felt confident after my group’s first meeting knowing that they (the legislators) are just people working for us.”

“By slowly releasing the strain of domestic violence on the survivors of California, we are making our state a better place,” Castellanos said. “Hopefully, our progress will have a rippling effect that can affect our nation.”

This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Brianna Joy: Students teach legislators about dating violence."