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LETICIA R. FRANCIS -
THE Advocate AGAINST
TEEN DATING VIOLENCE
Raising awareness on teen dating violence through raw truth, early prevention, and survivor-led education that disrupts generational cycles.
Breaking the Silence. Disrupting the Cycle. Reclaiming Power.
Teen dating violence is happening.
In hallways. On group chats. Behind closed bedroom doors.
But most teens don’t even know they’re in it because they think control is love.
They think jealousy is passion.
They think silence is strength.
Leticia Francis is here to disrupt that lie.
As a survivor of teenage domestic abuse, she doesn’t just speak about violence.
She speaks from it, with raw truth, lived experience, and a clear mission:
To end the cycle before it becomes a pattern.
LETICIA'S STORY
Why Teen Dating Violence Demands Attention
Teen dating violence doesn’t start with bruises.
It starts with control. Silence. Power games. Emotional manipulation.
And it’s happening far more than most adults want to believe.
1 in 3 teens will experience abuse in a dating relationship.
Physical. Emotional. Verbal. Digital. Sexual coercion.
Most of it never gets reported because teens don’t see it as abuse.
Why?
Because in today’s culture:
• Jealousy is called “love.”
• Obsession is called “passion.”
• Control is called “protection.”
• Isolation is called “quality time.”
Teens are learning about relationships through TikTok arguments, toxic song lyrics, trauma‑bond love stories, and peers who are just as confused as they are.
So when abuse shows up, it doesn’t look dangerous.
It looks normal.
And here’s the truth nobody wants to talk about:
Teen dating violence doesn’t stay in high school halls.
It follows teens into:
• college dorms
• marriages
• parenting
• friendships
• workplaces
• leadership roles
Unaddressed teenage dating abuse becomes:
✔ chronic anxiety
✔ low self‑worth
✔ people‑pleasing
✔ fear of abandonment
✔ choosing emotionally unsafe partners again and again
✔ tolerating mistreatment because “at least it’s not as bad as before”
It doesn’t disappear at graduation. It becomes the script.
This is why Leticia refuses to wait until adulthood.
Prevention has to start early.
Her advocacy is built on one belief:
If we can interrupt the cycle at 11, 12, 13… we change the trajectory of entire futures.
Early disruption means:
✨ teens recognize red flags sooner
✨ they develop language to name harm
✨ they know how to ask for help without shame
✨ they build standards, not survival instincts
✨ cycles of abuse end — before they ever truly begin
Because teenage dating violence is not “just young love.”
It is the beginning of lifelong trauma unless somebody steps in and says:
“No. This is not love. And you deserve better.”
And that’s exactly what your advocacy does.
Signature Youth-Focused Talks & Workshops
Every event is different and I believe your audience deserves more than a cookie-cutter talk. Below are my signature packages, but each one can be customized to meet your theme, time frame, and audience needs. Let’s co-create an unforgettable experience.
Love Shouldn’t Hurt: Unpacking Teenage Dating Violence
The keynote every school should be hosting. Leticia takes teens behind the Instagram filters and fake smiles to expose what unhealthy love really looks like. Through storytelling and clear frameworks, she gives them the tools to recognize red flags, speak up, and choose themselves before love turns toxic.
🔹 Perfect for: School assemblies, teen leadership programs, safeguarding weeks
Safe to Feel, Safe to Speak: Trauma-Informed Spaces for Teens
A prevention workshop that centers emotional literacy + voice. Teen survivors are everywhere but silence keeps them invisible. This workshop is designed to help schools, youth workers, and parents create spaces where teens feel safe, seen, and supported. It's part education, part prevention, and all heart.
🔹 Perfect for: School counselors, safeguarding teams, youth org staff
🔗 Book this workshop to create safe, healing-centered environments for youth.
From Victim to Voice: Empowering Teen Survivors to Reclaim Their Story
A workshop designed for young women who have already survived abuse. Leticia gently but powerfully guides teen survivors through the early stages of healing, validating their experience, dismantling self-blame, and helping them begin the process of reclaiming identity, power, and voice.
Includes:
✔ How trauma reshapes your beliefs about love, worth, and safety
✔ How to release shame that was never yours to carry
✔ Journaling and reflection exercises to start your healing story
✔ A future-focused, no-pressure reinvention framework teens can build on
🔹 Perfect for: Survivor support groups, school safeguarding referrals, community outreach
🔗 Book this private workshop to empower girls who are already in the healing journey.
Leticia Speaks the Language Teens Understand
She’s not a disconnected adult with a PowerPoint.
She’s a survivor who’s been 14, scared, in love and manipulated.
She knows what it feels like to protect your abuser.
To keep secrets. To lose yourself trying to feel wanted.
That’s why teens listen.
And that’s why her work doesn’t just resonate, it lands.
Signature Youth-Focused Talks & Workshops
Because teens aren’t the only ones who need a wake-up call.
You can have the most powerful student workshop in the world.
But if the adults in their lives don’t know how to respond…
It won’t stick.
It won’t spread.
And it won’t save lives.
That’s where this add-on comes in.
Leticia offers tailored trainings for both parents and school staff designed to create a support system that doesn’t just react to teen dating violence, but actively prevents it through awareness, education, and brave conversations.
Parent Training: “Talk So They’ll Tell You”
Let’s be real: most parents don’t know how to talk about teen dating violence.
They’re scared.
They downplay things.
They say too much or worse, nothing at all.
In this workshop, Leticia guides parents through:
✔ How to recognize subtle warning signs your child may be in an unsafe relationship
✔ What to say (and what NOT to say) when your teen opens up How to build emotional safety BEFORE there’s a problem
✔ The truth about trauma, teen secrecy, and why some kids hide abuse even from “good” parents
✔ How to parent without shame when your teen’s dating choices scare you
This isn’t about blame. It’s about empowering parents to be a safe space, so their kids don’t have to heal in silence.
Staff Training: “Trauma-Informed Schools Save Lives”
Teachers, counselors, and safeguarding leads are first responders in disguise. But far too often, they’re left guessing what to do when something feels “off.”
This training equips educators and school staff to:
✔ Understand how dating violence shows up in student behavior, attendance, and academic decline
✔ Respond to disclosures of abuse with empathy, clarity, and safety ✔ Avoid retraumatizing responses like interrogation, judgment, or “you should’ve known better”
✔ Build classroom cultures where students feel seen, heard, and protected
✔ Set and communicate healthy boundaries and behavioral expectations around relationships
Leticia speaks from lived experience, as someone who once sat in classrooms while hiding abuse. She knows what teens need from the adults around them. And she knows how to help staff create a real culture of care, not just tick-box safeguarding.
THE Advocate AGAINST TEEN DATING VIOLENCE
ABOUT LETICIA R. FRANCIS
I was 14 when I entered my first abusive relationship.
Fourteen.
While other girls were figuring out who they were, I was being torn apart by someone who claimed to love me. I learned to confuse control with care, silence with safety, and pain with passion. That relationship and the ones that followed, set a blueprint I didn’t even know I was building. A blueprint rooted in fear, shame, and survival.
I carried that trauma into adulthood.
Into motherhood.
Into my business.
Until one day, I said no more.
That’s why I advocate.
Because no one taught me what love should feel like. Because the warning signs were silenced by culture, shame, and secrecy.
Because if someone had pulled me aside at 14 and told me the truth, I might’ve saved years of pain.
Now, I am that person.
I speak for the girls who are hurting in silence. I educate so they can name what’s happening before it becomes normalized. I guide parents, schools, and communities in creating spaces where abuse is not just talked about but disrupted early.
This isn’t a trend.
This is my life.
And I won’t stop until every teen knows what love is not.
