CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Purple Door—a local organization that provides help to those going through domestic violence—is using social media to reach younger survivors.
"We ended up breaking up but that's when things hit the fan, by 'things' there's no easy way to say it...stalking," one survivor shares her story in a TikTok video.
That survivor found help through a domestic violence shelter and shares her story through a four-part video posted to TikTok and the Purple Door, also known as the Women's Shelter of South Texas.
Engagement manager at the Purple Door, Shelbie Lashua Ledesma, said using social media allows the organization to reach that younger age group to help get information out about prevention and education in a way they can relate.
"We know they are online all the time, they like things like TikTok and Instagram, then we can reach them where they are, then we can model what healthy relationships look like," Ledesma said.
She said dating violence, emotional abuse, even stalking do unfortunately happen among teens and young adults.
"We want to let those adolescence, young adults and teens know that this is what that behavior looks like one, because they may not know it," she said.
While the Purple Door mostly helps adults, they are able to provide information and services to teens with their parent's permission.
In the last year, over 1,700 people were assisted by the organization, 515 were children.
When you break down age groups, it shows they helped 128 teens between the ages of 13 to 17 in the Coastal Bend and 179 between the ages of 18 and 24.
"That number is always increasing, which is good that people are getting the help they need, we hope that goes down for positive reasons," Ledesma said.
Men can be victims too.
Services through the nonprofit are free for victims in a 12 county area. Which is why they can always use assistance through their resale shop off of Alameda street or through donations.
"That looks like shampoo, razors, lotion, baby wipes, feminine hygiene," Ledesma said. "All of those things you need at home, our victims also need."
Here are some resource links:
Hotline Number: 361-881-8888
Healthy relationships for young adults | love is respect – they have a chat and text option
The Mariposa Initiative – this is the sexual assault department of The Purple Door
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