One out of ten teens will be physically hurt by someone who they are dating. One in nine teen girls will be forced to have sex. One in five young women will be a victim of sexual assault while in college. One in three women will experience physical violence, rape or stalking at some point in their lifetime. All of these facts bear one similarity that has been repeated over the course of preventing teen dating related crimes: one is too many.

To conclude the teen dating violence awareness month of February, various coalitions met at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building South Court Auditorium on Feb. 28 at 12:30p.m. Activists from organizations such as the Melrose Alliance Against Violence and Men Can Stop Rape presented their efforts to raise awareness and reach out to survivors of teen dating abuse.

Audience members included students and members of organizations who act to promote preventative efforts against teen dating violence. Amongst those in the crowd, include parents of women who have been murdered as a result of teen violence.

One of the presentations offered an interactive panel with a student from Melrose High School and representative from the Melrose Safe STEPS for Teens Project Rebecca Mooney. Senior and member of the exclusive Student Action Board at his school Zeke Vainer detailed his experience with a friend who spent a year in an abusive relationship and how it affected him in his endeavors towards the cause.

“Dating abuse can happen to anyone. It has no gender, race, sexual orientation or religion. Through my actions I [feel] courageous,” Vainer said.

Earlier that day, the House of Representatives passed the Violence Against Women Act, calling for great celebration amongst the various student activists and lobbyists who attended the meeting.

In accordance to the recent success in the House, Vice President Joe Biden, who helped spearhead the original Violence Against Women Act in 1994 when he was a U.S. senator, paid a surprise visit to close the meeting. Biden expressed his sincere dedication towards his efforts in using tools such as technology, social media, and the platform of the White House to increase awareness amongst young teens and adults.

“I was raised by a dad who taught us that the single worst sin a man or a woman could commit was to abuse power and the ultimate abuse of power[…] is an adult raising a hand to a child, or a man raising his hand to a woman,” Biden said.

Much stir has been created amongst the student body at AHS as well. Many students find the passing of the Act as a great success towards the efforts in raising awareness and helping those who are still entrapped in the vicious cycle of an abusive relationship.

“I’m really happy about the passage of the Act because the protection that it puts in place, especially the new ones designed specifically to protect LGBT and Native American communities,” senior Olivia Buckley said. “I don’t think there’s a problem with the rules at AHS, but that isn’t to say that there aren’t more deeply embedded social problems that perpetuate violence against women, especially sexual violence.”

To continue the 1is2many campaign, Biden described the need to increase his outreach to help the growing number of women who seek aid.

“Of my entire career, this is the proudest cause I have ever been associated with,” Biden said.