A new youth-led project aims to prevent abusive relationships by educating teenagers on the warning signs.

The Teen Talk project was launched after being chosen by the Winkler Community Foundation as the recipient of the $15,000 RBC Future Launch Community Challenge.

Samantha Toews, Child Counsellor from the South Central Committee on Family Violence will lead the initiative. She explains they hope to help teens recognize the red flags to end potentially abusive relationships while educating youth on the components of a healthy relationship.

She notes almost half of all clients at the local Genesis House shelter are under the age of 25. "A lot of our women don't really know about their rights; the right to say "no", the right to be respected, to make their own decisions... things like that women aren't learning."

Instead, they hope to reach teens just as dating relationships are starting and give them the skills and education they need. Teen Talk reps will partner with local schools to speak to teens, as well as with local physicians during teen clinics.

"By the time they make it to us at Genesis House they have no idea... what a healthy relationship looks like," Toews explains. "We'd like to intervene right from the beginning."

The RBC Future Launch Community Challenge is a national grant partnership between Community Foundations of Canada and the RBC Foundation to engage young people and impact local communities.

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