February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month - see below for more info!


Women In Distress has embraced an ambitious goal to stop violence before it begins. Understanding that prevention requires understanding the factors that influence violence, the Department of Social Change was created in 2006 in order to provide education to youth and adults about:

• the dynamics of intimate partner violence and teen dating violence
• the various social constructs that perpetuate violence
• the interplay between domestic violence and other social issues: STDs/STIs, substance abuse, poverty, mental and physical health, etc.

In order to:

• connect community residents to services
• change social and community attitudes and conditions that contribute to violence; establish social norms that make violence unacceptable.

Women In Distress' Social Change Department programs take a comprehensive approach to educate traditional and non-traditional partners in order to stimulate a coordinated community response to violence prevention, addressing underlying social problems on an individual, institutional, community, and societal basis.  

Our comprehensive programming reaches all four levels of the CDC’s suggested model for violence prevention, and free educational presentations are available to schools (mainstream and alternative, afterschool programs, etc.), professionals (legal, medical, etc.), front line service providers (youthserving agencies, treatment facilities, homeless shelters, etc.), at community events, and the general public.  Additionally, the agency’s volunteer program is within the Social Change Department in an effort to further engage the community in our mission.

The goal is to bring together the talents, resources and skills of people in the community in order to increase their collective power and work for social change — in this case, to eliminate family violence.

More Information:
Social Change Brochure
2010 CDC Report
on the prevalence of sexual violence, stalking and intimate partner violence in the United States




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National Recognition for Domestic Violence & Teen Dating Violence Awareness

October: Domestic Violence Awareness Month
February: Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month
                             Read the press release       
                             See the Pemboke Pines Mayoral Proclamation