One in three women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. YSL Beauty’s global program Abuse Is Not Love has partnered with It’s On Us to create a campaign to raise awareness about IPV, especially on college campuses. YSL Beauty pledges to train its employees and educate two million people on IPV by 2030 through partnerships with organizations like It’s On Us and by funding academic research. Due to the rise of domestic violence during the COVID-19 lockdown, YSL Beauty has doubled its investment in the US this year. Earlier this week, Her Campus at UCLA had the opportunity to speak with Tracey Vitchers, the Executive Director of It’s On Us, to discuss It’s On Us’ partnership with YSL Beauty, its educational programs on college campuses, how IPV affects the workplace, and more.
It’s On Us was founded in 2014 as part of the Obama administration in an effort to combat sexual assault and sexual violence on college campuses through education and awareness. The organization has since expanded to become a national chapter network, with over 300 chapters at college campuses across the country. Based on a needs assessment, It’s On Us discovered that intimate partner violence is not always covered in traditional sexual assault prevention programs.
This “[created] an environment where students knew what sexual assault looked like…but didn’t know how to identify the signs that a friend or even themselves might be in an abusive or unhealthy relationship,” said Vitchers.
To bridge this gap in the education surrounding IPV, It’s On Us created a “peer-to-peer education model” where students may start chapters on campus or work through other existing initiatives to train their peers through six core prevention and education programs. Two of these programs were built in collaboration with YSL Beauty’s Abuse Is Not Love: one covers IPV awareness and a second focuses on IPV intervention. Other programs cover sexual assault awareness and consent education, bystander intervention, survivor support and online dating safety.
It’s On Us and the student campus leads at each chapter work together to develop a training plan. These plans may differ at each campus depending on the needs of that campus’ student population. For instance, Vitchers said, “Some schools have really big athletic departments and some schools have a really big Greek life…. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to this work.”
These programs go beyond simply awareness. It’s easy to be “aware” of issues like intimate partner violence, but it is often much harder to know how to take actions. The trainings that YSL Beauty and It’s On Us have created provide specific examples on how to take action against IPV, including “roleplaying exercises for students to practice having conversations with peers.” Vitchers hopes to continue updating and refining these trainings based on student feedback to ensure that the programs remain relevant and useful, year after year.
YSL Beauty has also created an interactive card game to distribute on college campuses. The game will help players identify the nine key warning signs of an abusive relationship. This will help ensure that players are able to keep an eye out for signs in their friends’ relationships or even their own.
The campus is not the only place where It’s On Us aims to combat intimate partner violence, however. Earlier this year, YSL Beauty also published an academic paper about IPV in relation to the workplace and how companies can help combat the issue.
“The workplace is typically the one place where somebody who is experiencing IPV can get away from a partner,” said Vitchers. As a result, it is crucial that employers and staff are educated on how to spot signs of IPV and how to initiate difficult conversations with those who may be experiencing it. It is also important, said Vitcher, to create a company culture where employees are “comfortable coming forward.”
Intimate partner violence is a difficult topic to talk about, but it is key that all individuals are able to spot its signs and know how to intervene. YSL Beauty’s Abuse Is Not Love, in partnership with It’s On Us, is making huge steps toward educating people across the nation, especially on college campuses, where young people may be particularly vulnerable.