Teen Dating Violence
ACTION ALERT
Download your copy of the new Love Is Not Abuse curriculum, a step-by step guide to teaching high school students about the issue of dating violence.
To find out what schools are already participating click here.
Encourage your local school systems to get their copies and begin teaching this to our students if they currently do not have a domestic violence curriculum already in place. You can talk with your child's teacher or write, email and gather petition signatures to send to school boards and principals, explaining the need for this and why it is critical that we help our young people understand domestic violence and why it is an issue.
Teen Dating Violence
You deserve to be treated with respect, period. So if you think you might be in a violent dating relationship, you need to seek help. If you know of someone that is involved in a violent dating relationship you should try to get them help. Find out what makes Healthy Relationships. Also, check our Youth Resources page for organizations that work with teens affected by domestic violence, downloads on teen dating violence and hotlines in case you need to talk with someone.
Here are somethings you should know about teen dating violence from Choose Respect. See just how serious teen dating violence really is:
- About one in 11 teens reports being a victim of physical dating abuse each year.1
- About one in four teens reports verbal, physical, emotional or sexual abuse each year.2, 3
- About one in five teens reports being a victim of emotional abuse.4
- About one in five high school girls has been physically or sexually abused by a dating partner.5
- The overall occurrence of dating violence is higher among black (13.9%) than Hispanic (9.3%) or white (7.0%) students.6
- About 72% of students in 8th and 9th grade report "dating".7 By the time they are in high school, 54% of students report dating violence among their peers.8
- 1 in 3 teens report knowing a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked, or otherwise physically hurt by his or her partner.9
- " 80% of teens regard verbal abuse as a serious issue for their age group.9
- Nearly 80% of girls who have been physically abused in their dating relationships continue to date their abuser.9
- Nearly 1 in 5 teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend had threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a break-up10.
- Almost 70% of young women who have been raped knew their rapist either as a boyfriend, friend, or casual acquaintance10.
- Teen dating abuse most often takes place in the home of one of the partners10.
1 Lynberg MC, Eaton D, et al. Prevalence and Associated Health Risk Behaviors of Physical Dating Violence Victimization among High School Students. United States, 2003. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 2006 [In Press].
2 Foshee VA, Linder GF, Bauman KE, et al. The safe dates project: theoretical basis, evaluation design, and selected baseline findings. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1996;12(2):39-47.
3 Avery-Leaf S, Cascardi M, O'Leary KD, Cano A. Efficacy of a dating violence prevention program on attitudes justifying aggression. Journal of Adolescent Health 1997; 21:11-17.
4 Ibid
5 Silverman JG, Raj A, Mucci L, Hathaway J. Dating violence against adolescent girls and associated substance use, unhealthy weight control, sexual risk behavior, pregnancy, and suicidality. Journal of the American Medical Association 2001; 286(5):572-9.
6 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Surveillance Summaries, May 21, 2004. MMWR 2004:53(No. SS-2). Available from URL: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/SS/SS5302.pdf .
7 Foshee VA, Linder GF, Bauman KE, et al. The safe dates project: theoretical basis, evaluation design, and selected baseline findings. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1996;12(2):39-47.
8 Jaffe P, Sudermann M, Reitzel D, Killip S. An evaluation of a secondary school primary prevention program on violence in intimate relationships. Violence and Victims 1992; 7: 129-146.
9 Teenage Research Unlimited. Findings from study commissioned by Liz Claiborne Inc. to investigate the level of and attitudes towards dating abuse among American teenagers aged 13 to 18 [online] 2005 Feb [cited 2006 Mar 20]. Available from: URL: www.loveisnotabuse.com/statistics_abuseandteens.htm
10Rennison CM, Welchans S. Intimate partner violence 1993-2001. Washington (DC): Department of Justice (US), Bureau of Justice Statistics [online]; 2003 [cited 2006 Mar 20]. Available from: URL: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ipv.pdf.
Visit these other pages