Our Vision, Position and Perspective
  • We believe that domestic and teen dating violence are far more prevalent and devastating to our society than most people realize in terms of both its social and fiscal costs. Because these issues thrive in silence, they are often more prevalent in one’s own local high school, college and community than many could imagine.
  • 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.
    • An issue that very few women thought could ever actually affect them, and for the most part an issue that thrived in silence. An issue that since that time is widely understood and broadly supported. An issue today where women are vigilant about taking self-exams, identifying the early signs, understand the importance of early intervention and accordingly are quick to seek expertise when they think they may be in an unhealthy situation.
  • We believe that teen dating violence and abuse can be prevented and that teenagers in high school represent a tremendous window of opportunity to break the silence and the cycle of violence in intimate, domestic and dating relationships.
  • We believe high schools can play a critical role in teaching the next generation perhaps some of the most important lessons in life: the ability to identify, intervene and prevent unhealthy relationships from escalating into abusive relationships with life altering and lethal consequences.
  • We believe that there are an ample number of proven approaches, policies and programs that can effectively prevent these issues from perpetuating.
  • We believe that there will soon be a day when most communities, and the high schools and colleges within them, will recognize that they could greatly benefit from the adoption and implementation of these proven approaches, policies and programs.
  • 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.
  • Where girls and boys in middle and high schools receive training about dating relationships and teen dating violence as an integral part of their core health education.
  • Where high schools have effective TDVA clubs and councils that can increase awareness and affect change among middle schools and the rest of the community.
  • Where colleges and universities come clean on the prevalence and severity of both the dating violence and sexual assault issue that is rampant on college campuses across the country.
  • We envision a day where colleges and universities step up and play a critical leadership role in implementing the right policies and prevention programs across their campuses. Where they adopt sound, practical and effective policies that shift the burden of proof around providing consent in sexual assault cases and render an individual under the influence of a substance from being incapable of providing consent.
  • Where fathers and coaches leverage one of the many effective programs that target middle and high school males around the topics of healthy male expression and bystander intervention.
  • Where all across the community all first line service providers, from teachers, doctors and nurses to dentists and hair dressers, are consistently screening their patients to ensure that they are in a safe place at home and that they and their children do not live in constant fear of violence.
  • Where friends and family see it as part of their obligation to intervene in an unhealthy or abusive relationship and are properly educated in the effective ways to do so.
  • We envision a day when people, including children, are free from fear, intimidation and violence in their own homes and relationships.
  • We believe in the ROSE Fund's plan to fully expose this issue and explode the well established NIMBY (Not IN My Backyard/Not my Kid) myths associated with DV/TDVA across New England.
  • With your help, we believe this plan is highly achievable.