Women’s Aid launches #TooIntoYou Valentine’s Pop-Up Shop to highlight the darker side of love.

Today, on Valentine’s Day, Women’s Aid, a national organisation supporting women subjected to intimate relationship abuse, is launching their #TooIntoYou Valentine’s Pop-Up Shop in Dublin. This creative space will challenge perceptions about ‘love’ and ‘romance’ and is designed to prompt crucial conversations about intimate relationship abuse. The shop and accompanying campaign also raise awareness of support and information for young people who suffer abuse, through www.TooIntoYou.ie and the Women’s Aid National Freephone Helpline & Instant Messaging Support Service.

Visitors to the shop will encounter surprisingly sinister Valentine’s gifts, such as love-heart balloons with messages like ‘Let me see your phone’, a GPS tracker disguised as a necklace, and red roses with a dark message, all highlighting common red flags of intimate relationship abuse.

Mary Hayes, who leads the #TooIntoYou campaign, explains the thinking behind the Pop-Up Shop: “From years of supporting young women subjected to abuse, Women’s Aid knows that it can hide in relationships that appear romantic on the surface. At the #TooIntoYou Valentine’s Pop-Up Shop, we want to challenge young people’s perception of romance and spark a conversation about seemingly romantic behaviours in relationships. Our hope is that it prompts reflection and discussion about how young people are treated in their intimate relationships and to inspire them to learn more about the difference between healthy and unhealthy behaviours.”

The Pop-Up Shop will prompt the start of Women’s Aid’s four-week Too Into You campaign, which will run from 14th February to International Women’s Day, 8th March. The campaign aims to raise awareness amongst young people of toointoyou.ie, Women’s Aid’s dedicated website for young people.

Ms Hayes highlights the importance of this public awareness campaign: “For many young people, red flags of abuse can be difficult to spot because it may be their first relationship and they have nothing to compare it to, so these behaviours become normalised. With our #TooIntoYou campaign, we want young people to know that controlling and abusive behaviours are not normal, and they don’t deserve to be treated like this. We want to help raise awareness of what’s healthy and what’s not in young people’s intimate relationships. At toointoyou.ie, our dedicated website for young people, they can take the Relationship Quiz which helps them determine if their relationship is healthy, or whether their partner displays behaviours that are unhealthy or abusive. There’s also information about the red flags of abuse, information on how to help a friend you’re worried about, and much more. The website is a real hub of information for young people.”

In tandem with the campaign, Women’s Aid is unveiling a suite of #TooIntoYou video resources funded by the Community Foundation Ireland’s Youth Fund. These resources aim to educate and empower young people about their intimate relationships, breaking the stigma around abuse and encouraging them to seek support when needed.

Sarah Benson, CEO of Women’s Aid, concludes, “Our earliest intimate relationships are incredibly formative. Women’s Aid wants all young people to start out with healthy, respectful and fulfilling experiences. Unfortunately, with one in five young women in Ireland suffering abuse by just age 25, we still have much work to do to achieve this aim. It is vital to give young people multiple tools to both recognise warning signs of abuse and seek support when needed. We are also signposting alternative behaviours for anyone who embarks on their first relationships misguidedly thinking that being jealous, controlling, or domineering of a partner is appropriate. We are delighted to be able to launch this new suite of videos as great new resources to help young people. These videos are informed by Women’s Aid research and the direct experiences of young people, and are made possible with the support of the Community Foundation’s Youth Fund. We are encouraging everyone to share them widely with young people in their lives.”

Denise Charleton, Chief Executive of Community Foundation Ireland, welcomes these new resources: “If we are truly to end abuse and violence then the message must go out loud and clear to everyone that support, assistance and help is available. It is a message we must get to every single person who lives in fear or in danger, no matter what their personal circumstances or background. Breaking down barriers to reaching groups of people who are particularly marginalised lies at the very centre of TooIntoYou.ie. Community Foundation Ireland and its donors are proud to partner with Women’s Aid and other supporters to deliver a service which is truly pioneering and leading the way. The development of video content represents another significant milestone of a campaign which offers hope to so many.”

The #TooIntoYou Valentine’s Pop-Up Shop will be open to the public from 10.30am –
5.30pm on Wednesday 14th February at 31/32 Mary Street, Dublin 1, D01VK24.
Support for anyone affected: Women’s Aid 24hr National Freephone Helpline 1800 341
900, open seven days a week.
Instant Message Support Service on www.toointoyou.ie, open mornings and evenings,
seven days a week.
Support for Men: National Male Adviceline 1800 816 588 www.mensnetwork.ie
Support for LGBTQ+ people: National LGBT Helpline 1800 929 539