"ae, (NAPSA)—While college students and their families may be concerned about everything from getting good grades to choosing a major, there’s one danger about which too many are not even aware—butthat can be prevented. The Problem According to a recent poll, 48 percent of dating college women have experienced some violent and abusive behaviors and 22 percent report actual physical abuse, sexual abuseor threats of physical violence—yet 38 percent of college students told the Love Is Not Abuse College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll they wouldn’t know how to get help and 57 percent say it is difficult to identify dating abuse. An Answer To help remedy this situation, loveisrespect.org is launching a new initiative to target college students with relevant resources. Loveisrespect.org will focus on three areas: Take Action, information on how students can get involved on their campus; Stay Safe, safety planning designed specifically for college students; and Help a Friend, information to assist bystanders. Loveisrespect.org is a collaboration between Break the Cycle and the National Dating Abuse Helpline. Combining resources and capacity, together they are reaching more people, building more healthy relationships and saving morelives. Some Advice Among the advice the website offersis: Never post your address or phone numberon yourprofile. *Some universities publish College students may often be confused about dating abuse, but there are groupsthat canhelp. directories with everyone’s contact information online, so check with your school to see that your personal information is not available to the public without your permission. Posting your class schedule to Facebook can be a quick way to find out if you have a class with anyone you know but be sure to leave out any information about where you'll be at a given time. The poll, conducted by Knowledge Networks, was initiated by Liz Claiborne Inc. in response to the lack of recent data on dating violence and abuse amongcollege students and to increase the understanding of this pervasive problem on college campuses. For more than 20 years, Liz Claiborne Inc. has been working to end domestic violence. Through its Love Is Not Abuse program,it provides information and tools that people can use to learn more about the issue and find out how to help end this epidemic. Learn More You can get further information online at www.loveisnotabuse.com and www.loveisrespect.org or by calling (866) 331-9474.
