What we do

Too Into You National Public Awareness Campaign

Holly Carpenter, model, influencer and Too Into You Ambassador and Juliana Shiel, a survivor of intimate relationship abuse and Too Into You Ambassador at the launch of Women’s Aid, three week long national Too Into You public awareness campaign.

Too Into You is a Women’s Aid National Public Awareness Campaign aimed at raising awareness of intimate relationship abuse against young women aged 18-25.

Women's Aid is running the Too Into You national public awareness campaign from 14^th February 2022, Valentine’s Day, to the 8^th March, International Women’s Day to reach the one in five young women who need our support - now.

We have a dedicated website for the project at Toointoyou.ie where you can take the Healthy Relationships Quiz, read about the 10 Key Signs of Intimate Relationship Abuse and get information on legal protection and protecting yourself online. You can also learn how to help a friend if you are worried they might be experiencing abuse with our ‘Help a Friend’ tool. You can also learn about Women’s Aid research on intimate relationship abuse amongst young people aged 18-25 in Ireland.

Intimate relationship abuse against young women is a prominent issue in Ireland.

Our research shows how prevalent and damaging intimate relationship abuse is for young people.

Women’s Aid Research 2022 shows that:

3 in 5 young people have experienced, or know someone who has experienced, intimate relationship abuse
1 in 5 young women have suffered intimate relationship abuse
1 in 6 young women have suffered coercive control
51% of young women affected experienced the abuse under the age of 18
Of the young women who had suffered abuse, 1 in 2 experienced online abuse
1 in 3 young women never spoke to anyone about the abuse they experienced.

In our One in Five report, young women told us of the devastating effects that the abuse had on them that included anxiety, depression, isolation and suicide ideation. We also found that there were lots of barriers for young women when It comes to seeking help. They said that they feared for their safety, that they felt ashamed and that the abuse undermined their own judgement and sometimes made it hard to recognise the abuse. Young women told us that digital abuse was particularly hard to deal with because of the ‘always on’ nature of online life and the perception that digital abuse wasn’t taken seriously enough.

Our Yes It’s Abuse research report, launched 14^th Feb 2022, shows that there is more work to be done with young people on their awareness and understanding of intimate relationship abuse:

4 in 5 young people believe those experiencing abuse do so in silence and don’t seek support.
50% of young people are not aware of specialist supports for intimate relationship abuse.
Only 16% of young people said that it is easy to spot the signs of abuse in someone else’s relationship.
20% of young men and 8% of young women believe that it is not their business to intervene in a relationship where they suspect abuse.
2 in 5 young people agreed that it is mostly men who act abusively towards women in intimate relationships, more women (47%) than men (36%) believed this to be true. 29% of young people surveyed did not believe this.
The majority (81%) incorrectly identified drug and alcohol misuse as a cause of intimate relationship abuse.
The majority of young people feel a responsibility to intervene if they are concerned a close friend might be experiencing intimate relationship abuse but have a number of concerns which might prevent them from intervening including: Fears around making the situation worse (73%); concerns about misreading the signs of abuse (48%); worries about saying the wrong thing (42%); and a lack of awareness on how to help (43%).

61% said that if they knew what to say and had confidence in how to start the conversation (56%), it would help them intervene if they were worried about someone.

Other Campaign Materials

Download the Too Into You Digital Partner Pack (click here).
Download the Women’s Aid Factsheet on Intimate Relationship Abuse (click here).
Listen to the Help a Friend Radio Ad (click here).
Download the ‘Help a Friend’ Leaflet (click here).
Download our Online Safety Guide (click here).

Key Elements of the Campaign

Spotting the Signs

The campaign helps young people to spot the 10 key danger signs of intimate relationship abuse and shares the stories of young women who have experienced abuse.

The Law is On Your Side

New laws brought in under the Domestic Violence Act 2018 mean that individuals experiencing abuse in any intimate relationship can now apply for Safety Orders. Women's Aid has launched a free guide to Safety Orders called' The Law is on your Side' as part of the #TooIntoYou campaign. Click here for more information.

Keeping Yourself Safe Online

As online abuse has also become more prevalent, particularly among younger age groups, Women’s Aid has responded by developing a new guide on keeping yourself safe online. This provides people with practical advice on how to deal with online abuse, stalking and harassment. The Harassment, Harmful Communications Act 2020 has recently made image based sexual abuse a crime. Click here to visit the webpage on online safety.

Help a Friend

Women’s Aid has developed a new ‘Help a Friend’ tool available at TooIntoYou.ie which can help young people learn about the signs of abuse, learn how to start the conversation with someone they are worried about and find supports for intimate relationship abuse.

Women’s Aid Research

Women’s Aid have completed two nationally representative studies on intimate relationship abuse amongst young people aged 18-25 in Ireland:

The findings of these studies have been highlighted in our Women’s Aid Factsheet 2022, available here.

Finding Support

Women's Aid has also launched an instant messaging service to provide support online. The service is available every morning and every evening. Monday to Friday 10am – 1pm and Saturday 12pm - 3pm and Sunday 11am – 1pm and Monday to Sunday from 7pm-10pm.www.toointoyou.ie.

Please support the Too Into You campaign

Follow the Too Into You campaign on Women's Aid Instagram, Facebook and Twitter with the hashtags #YesItsAbuse and #TooIntoYou
Request the Too Into you Digital Awareness Pack by emailing mary.hayes@womensaid.ie
Share the campaign on your social media and tag Women’s Aid
Tell the young people in your life about TooIntoYou.ie