What responsibility is ours to own when our youth tell us that the very violence we are working to prevent has and continues to root itself in the hallways they grow up in?

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control released its latest iteration of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The statistics have swept nearly every major headline, telling the same story: Youth in the U.S. need our action. They’re battling hopelessness and despair. They’re experiencing more sexual violence, and for girls, LGBTQ students, many students of color and students whose families are struggling economically, it’s even harder.

For the next four months, we are diving deep into youth engagement: exploring how organizations across our movement are centering youth voices and how that work is transforming their agencies and communities.

For our first installment, we're sitting down with three California Youth Activists, who gathered with peers at the state capitol, call on their legislators and influential adults to do more in schools. They’re sharing why this movement means so much to them, what it’s been like to work with the Partnership and what advice they have for organizations who want to bring youth into their work.

Resources mentioned in this Podcast:

• California Partnership to End Domestic Violence Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month
• Youth in the Lead Outreach Toolkit
• Youth Risk Behavior Survey
• Teen Dating Violence 2023: Resources for the Field