Launch of pilot study evaluating implementation of ‘safe dates’

The Commission on Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence within the Ministry for Equality, Research and Innovation, in collaboration with the Ministry for Education, is launching a pilot study entitled ‘A Pilot Study Evaluating the Implementation of ‘Safe Dates’ – a Teen Relationship Abuse Prevention Programme’. This pilot study is based on the educational and evidence-based programme Safe Dates (Foshee et al., 2021).

Safe Dates is a violence prevention programme designed for adolescents. As research has shown, this programme was highly effective in preventing dating violence in the United States.

In his speech, Minister for Equality, Research and Innovation Owen Bonnici praised this initiative and said that it is crucial to start educating on healthy and safe relationships from a young age, in order to prevent domestic violence and genderbased violence as much as possible.

“Such initiatives,” said Minister Bonnici, “give us hope that the future generation will be better prepared to face the challenges of life, including those that may be brought about by intimate relationships. It is important that we continue to work with these young people to make sure they learn to recognise the signs of toxic relationships and to seek help in a timely manner.”

Minister for Education Justyne Caruana highly praised this initiative, especially the participation of the students of the School of Visual and Performing Arts, who took part in an educational video related to this theme.

Minister Caruana said that children of this age are going through a lot of emotions, and an environment of domestic violence certainly does not help and causes them a lot of suffering.

“It is crucial that we continue to teach these young people about healthy personal relationships, the importance of recognising the signs when a relationship could be harmful to them and seeking help where they need it.”

In line with the pillars of the Istanbul Convention, the Commission on Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence is committed to violence prevention. For this reason, the piloting of the Safe Dates curriculum will be implemented in four state schools (St Ignatius College, St Thomas More College, St Clare’s College and St Nicholas College) in the lessons of PSCD for Year 10 students. Safe Dates provides resources, which were locally adapted, to aid students in identifying and preventing the different forms of abuse in relationships, and prepares students in helping persons who are in abusive relationships.

The main objective of this pilot study is to evaluate whether the implementation of Safe Dates is effective in changing the beliefs and attitudes of Year 10 PSCD students on dating abuse, and to gather feedback from PSCD teachers on the implementation of the programme. This research project is being launched by the Commission on Gender Based Violence and Domestic Violence, together with Dr Clarissa Sammut Scerri from the Department of Family Studies at the University of Malta, and in collaboration with the Education Officers of PSCD and Drama, Heads of Schools and PSCD teachers.