Photo courtesy of Jill Schroeder Brenda Desmedt, Connie Nelson and Matt Cherry helped tie orange ribbons on light poles in Marshall’s downtown earlier this month. The colorful ribbons are a reminder of Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, which is February. Desmedt, Nelson and Cherry are part of a group of area residents working to raise awareness and help teens who may be experiencing abuse.

MARSHALL — People may have seen the color orange more around Marshall this month — including orange ribbons on street light posts along Main Street. The eye-catching color is meant to draw attention to a problem facing one in three teens in the U.S., a group of area residents said.

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and as a community project, a group of participants in the Marshall Leadership Academy want to help spread the word to stop dating abuse.

“To create awareness of Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, our group has paired up with local schools and businesses to place posters throughout Marshall and surrounding areas,” group members said. Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes has also issued a proclamation declaring February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month in the city of Marshall.

Group members Matt Cherry, Mariah Zeug, Chris Baune, Brenda Desmedt, Connie Nelson and Jill Schroeder said they wanted to raise awareness of dating violence as a service project for the Marshall Leadership Academy. Hosted by the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce, the Marshall Leadership Academy program gets area residents involved in their communities.

Group member Jill Schroeder said Chris Baune, who works with New Horizons Crisis Center, made the group aware of the problem of teen dating violence. It was a subject they wanted to tackle for their service project.

“Dating violence is more common than you may think, especially among teens and young adults,” group members said. One in three U.S. teens will experience physical, sexual or emotional abuse from someone they’re in a relationship with, they said. More than 40% of U.S. college women also report experiencing violent or abusive dating behaviors.

One of the resources the awareness campaign is sharing with teens and community members is “Love Is Respect,” a project of the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Love Is Respect offers young people information on healthy relationships, warning signs of abuse, and ways to stay safe and support friends and loved ones.

According to Love Is Respect, signs of abuse in a dating relationship include more than physical violence. They can include controlling behavior or frequent put-downs from a partner, isolating a partner from friends or family, or pressuring them to have sex.

As part of the month-long awareness campaign, local group members tied orange ribbons on streetlights downtown. The awareness campaign was also recognized during meetings of the Marshall School Board and the Lyon County Board this month.

“There have been some additional group activities at ADM and North Star Mutual Insurance,” said group member Jill Schroeder. Group member Connie Nelson tied orange ribbons on some of the trees at the North Star Mutual campus in Cottonwood. “North Star Mutual have put (the campaign) in their newsletter, and ADM employees in the office area plan on wearing orange to acknowledge the month.”

Schroeder said the group will do a final report and presentation on their campaign in May.

The Love Is Respect project offers resources and information on dating violence for young people even beyond the month of February. Love Is Respect has a 24-hour hotline at 1-866-331-9474. More information and resources — including a quiz young people can take to see if their dating relationship is healthy — is also available online at loveisrespect.org.