San Francisco DA Harris Salutes Galileo’s Wellness Program
By Karen Tan, Staff Writer
San Francisco District Attorney Kamala D. Harris came to Galileo on October 1 to give a small press conference to highlight domestic violence among teenagers—dating violence in particular—and acknowledge the work the Wellness Center has done for those teens, having served 6,600 district wide last year.
DA Harris announced the start of several new initiatives to combat domestic violence, including a partnership between La Casa de las Madres, an organization that offers services for victims of domestic violence, to campaign for public awareness and education. “[Domestic violence] is much more prevalent than we’d like to think,” said DA Harris.
DA Harris also announced new campaign where three different posters, created with the help of teenagers, are to be put up in high schools around the city. “We like to see ourselves as youthful,” said DA Harris, “but it’s probably best to go to the real source.” The posters, one of them showing a cellphone screen with a list of text messages, some reading “answer ME” and “f u,” are meant to educate students on dating violence.
Galileo was chosen for the promotion because of its reputable Wellness Center, one of the oldest and most comprehensive programs in SFUSD. School nurse Debra Byrant, who has worked with the Wellness Center since it’s start in 2000, says, “ My experience is that many of these teenagers are in [abusive] relationships and don’t even know it.”
One in four women will be a victim to domestic violence, and in teens, one in five. Men make up approximately 15% of the victims who reported partner violence. Every year, over 5.8 billion dollars are spent nationwide on health related costs associated with dating violence.
Nurse Bryant has seen both female and male victims of dating violence but believe that many do not come forward because they do not recognize the signs, believing their relationship to be normal. “I think that there is a misconception that abuse is physical but it is also emotional,” she said. Some of the signs indicating an abusive relationship are isolation—not allowing someone to see friends—and name calling. All eventually lead to violence.