MANILA, Philippines -- Making teenagers aware of the dangers of date rape and other gender-related violence, brought together four students of UP Open University Master of Development Communidation under Dr. Melinda Bandalaria to start an online social marketing campaign using a social networking site.

HOT Love at http://www.facebook.com/stopdatingviolence made Mielmia Maria Baquiran, Grace Bernadette Cortes, Dennis Mendoza and Joyce Talag seek to help our teens (HOT) love informed decision in dating and how to avoid violence.

The students said that they wanted to increase people's awareness especially the youth on gender-related violence and potential dangers in dating such as date rape, date rape drugs and even murder. "Our HOT Love in Facebook serves as interactive friend that guides and informs them how to avoid such violence, to identify scenarios leading to violence and what can be done to tops it."

Cortes, the City Information Officer of San Juan and Vice President of the association of Information Officers of Metro Manila, said that they are encouraging everyone to follow the link and "like" HOT Love to make the campaign a success. "Doing this social marketing campaign is more than a term project, it is a commitment that each one of us needs to do to stop violence," Cortes added.

It was learned that in the City of San Juan, cases of violence against women dramatically decreased by 53.9%  last year, from 154 to 71 documented cases because of the active information drive of the City Gender Equality Focal Point. The online campaign done by the UP students is hoped to contribute to further decrease the number of cases not only San Juan but other cities as well.