A Community Approach to Preventing Dating Violence: The Sudbury-Wayland- Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable and Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School’s MVP team hosts Escalation

On Thursday, May 4, 2017, there will be two screenings of Escalation – at Wayland High School at 3pm and at L-S High School at 7pm.

For the 7pm workshop, the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable will join with Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School’s Mentors in Violence Prevention team to invite members of our local communities – particularly parents – to join an Escalation Workshop which will be held at 7pm in the Lincoln-Sudbury High School Auditorium.

The One Love Foundation is an organization whose mission is to raise awareness about the consequences of relationship violence.  One Love produced the film and is collaborating with the Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund in Massachusetts to promote the use of the video and workshop.

On May 3, 2010, University of Virginia senior Yeardley Love was found dead in her off-campus apartment, the victim of a brutal assault by her former boyfriend. The murder sent shockwaves throughout the campus, and was a wake-up call for the entire country about the horrific nature and prevalence of relationship and break up violence.

Yeardley’s mother, Sharon Love, has since pledged to bring meaning to the devastating loss of Yeardley by starting The One Love Foundation. The Foundation engages students in schools and on college campuses around the country through the film “Escalation,” which realistically tells the story of two college students who fall in love, but whose relationship ultimately turns violent. After a screening of the film, the students are encouraged to talk about relationship violence in a group conversation led by facilitators trained by One Love.

Over 100,000 young people have now taken part in the workshop nationally.  Responses regarding the film have been extraordinarily positive and, as part of the Lincoln-Sudbury RHS in-school Courage to Care Conference, 12th graders will have the opportunity to take part in an Escalation Workshop.  Seniors at Wayland High School will also take part in the Workshop this spring.

Wayland resident Lauren Dunne Astley, died on July 3, 2011 at the hands of her former boyfriend. Her father, Malcolm Astley, reminds us that it is estimated that there are 3 to 4 murders a day of girls and women by their largely male partners. “We need to reconsider carefully how our culture is grooming numbers of our males toward isolated and violent paths in relation to both females and each other. We also need to transform passive bystanders into active Upstanders to help prevent such violence. Together we can dismantle such violence and the harm and injustice involved, just as we have successfully addressed so many other similar forms in our society’s history.”

Event flyer: DVRMay2017Escalationflyer3

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