Domestic abuse charity Women's Aid have launched a new campaign aiming to highlight the 'darker side of love' this Valentine's Day.
The charity hope to raise awareness around the warning signs of intimate relationship abuse.
It also aims to prompt conversations about such abuse, and challenge perceptions about love and romance.
A pop-up shop set up in Dublin features some 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, aiming to raise awareness about common warning signs of this form of abuse.
The wider campaign will run for four weeks, from Valentine's Day to International Women's Day on March 8th, aiming to teach people about the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships.
"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," the campaign's leader Mary Hayes explained.
"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," she added.
The initiative is particularly aimed at younger people, who are also being encouraged to take the online quiz on the Too Into You website to look at the behaviours in their own relationships.
Speaking on the importance of making young people aware of intimate relationship abuse, Ms Hayes said: "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."
The Too Into You pop-up shop on Mary Street in Dublin 1 is open from 10.30am to 5.30pm on Valentine's Day.
If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, support information can be found on the Too Into You website.
You can also contact Women’s Aid (24-hour freephone helpline at 1800-341 900, email [email protected]) or Men’s Aid Ireland (confidential helpline at 01-554 3811, email [email protected]). Safe Ireland also outlines a number of local services and helplines at safeireland.ie/get-help/where-to-find-help/.
In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
Reporting by Muireann Duffy
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