Does your boyfriend or ex-boyfriend do any of these things…..?

• Complain you spend too much time with your friends?
• Dictate what you wear?
• Constantly check up on you when you’re not together?
• Accuse you of cheating on him?
• Make you feel afraid to break up with him?

 

If so, you might need to take a look at Women’s Aid, the amazing organisation that provide support and information to women experiencing domestic violence and dating abuse. Last week they launched the #TooIntoYou National Public Awareness Campaign.

The three week long poster and social media advertising campaign will run throughout the month of October, and to start, they have  taken over Liberty Hall with 70ft banner putting the issue of violence against young women at the heart of Dublin. The campaign is aimed at young women, aged 18-25 years old, and highlights abusive and controlling behaviour in intimate relationships.

To encourage discussion about healthy and unhealthy relationships, the #TooIntoYou campaign features eight characters (including ‘Snooping Simon’, ‘Controlling Conor’, ‘Send Nudes Niall’, ‘Needy Neil’, ‘Dramatic Dan’, ’10 missed calls Ben’ and ‘Triple Text Thomas’ and ‘Why don’t you love me, Luke’) that reflect the insidious and harmful ways that young women can experience dating abuse from their boyfriends or exes.

The campaign also helps young women to spot the 10 key danger signs of dating abuse and provides information to combat online stalking and digital abuse and is supported by Oh My God What A Complete Aisling authors Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght, business woman Norah Casey, Bláthnaid Treacy, RTÉ broadcaster and the new face at Xposé and Trade Unions, NGOs and other organisations.

Margaret Martin, Director of Women’s Aid says: “Dating abuse is a significant issue for our frontline support services and research has shown that while young women can be at even higher risk of abuse in a relationship than their older counterparts, it can be difficult for young women to see what is happening to them as abuse. However, 39% of young women (aged 18-29) in Ireland have experienced emotional abuse by a boyfriend or partner and in a national survey on domestic abuse in Ireland, almost 60% of those who had experienced severe abuse in intimate relationships first experienced it when they were under the age of 25. A stark reminder of this risk is that 1 in every 2 women, aged between 18-25, killed in Ireland since 1996 were murdered by their boyfriends or exes.”

Ambassador for the campaign, Bláthnaid Treacy, RTÉ and new Xposé presenter encourages every young woman to give the quiz a go. Bláthnaid says:

If it feels wrong, then it probably is wrong. The website TooIntoYou.ie has loads of helpful tips including a relationship health check quiz and I think every young woman should take it, whether they’re seeing someone or not. With this campaign, we want young women to know that we have your back, so if you need a chat, Women’s Aid is just a free phone call away.

Stay tuned, as we aim to talk more in the future about warning signs, how we can seek support, and how we can support each other.

The Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline 1800 341 900 is available 7 days a week. www.toointoyou.ie.