Intimate Person Violence

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a serious health hazard, and refers to the physical, mental, or psychological abuse of a former partner or spouse. Millions of Americans are impacted by different forms of IPV, from being stalked by their partners to being physically assaulted by them.  Amid lockdown restrictions, where young people are forced into close proximity with their abusers, rates of intimate partner violence and domestic abuse have skyrocketed in the past few months. And without the usual support systems, many young people are unsure of how to reach out for help -- both for themselves or for their peers. During this presentation, I'll talk about the classic warning signs to look out for in toxic relationships, the effects of IPV in the Bay Area, how to advocate for victims of different cultures and identities, and how changes in our legislation can help victims of IPV get the assistance they need. Most importantly, I'll talk about how education at the middle and high school levels about intimate partner violence can prevent this cycle of abuse from repeating itself. 

Kanchan Naik is a senior at the Quarry Lane School in Dublin, California. She is the 2019-2020 Teen Poet Laureate for the City of Pleasanton, as well as the Director of Media Outreach for youth nonprofit Break the Outbreak. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, The Roar, as well as the Global Student Editor for the summer edition of Stanford’s Newsroom by the Bay publication. In addition, she is the Youth Editor at India Currents and the Poetry Editor of youth literary magazine The Aurora Review. Last year, she was selected by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards as a semifinalist for the National Student Poets Program (NSPP). Kanchan's work appears in the Apprentice Writer, Polyphony Lit, Brown Girl Magazine, Parallax Literary Magazine, among many others.