Facts About Dating Violence
It is important to realize that dating violence isn’t always physical. Dating violence is defined as one person purposely causes physical or psychological harm to the person they are dating. This includes physical violence as well as sexual and psychological (degrading remarks, controlling behavior, etc) violence.
Facts about Dating Violence:
- One of five teens in a serious relationship reports having been hit, slapped, or pushed by a partner.
- Young women, ages 16-24, experience the highest rates of relationship violence.
- 48% of teen girls who have been in a relationship say they have been victims of verbal, physical, or sexual abuse by their boyfriends.
- 47% of all teens say they know friends who have been verbally abused (called stupid, worthless, ugly, etc.) by a boyfriend/girlfriend.
- Roughly one in 10 (9%) teens has been verbally or physically abused by a boyfriend or girlfriend who was drunk or high.
- 36% of teens in relationships know friends and peers their age who have been pressured by a boyfriend/girlfriend to do things they didn’t want to do.
- 41% of 11-14 year olds in relationships know friends who have been verbally abused-called names, put down, or insulted-via cellphone, IM, social networking sites (like MySpace and Facebook), etc.
What are signs of a healthy, or unhealthy, relationship?
Healthy relationship:
- Loving and taking care of yourself
- Respecting your partner’s right to be himself or herself
- Having a life outside the relationship, with your own friends and your own activities
- Making decisions together, each partner compromising when necessary
- Resolving conflicts through open and honest communication
- Having more good times in the relationship than bad
Unhealthy relationship:
- Focusing all your energy on loving and caring for your partner
- Trying to change your partner to be what you want them to be
- Dropping friends and family or activities you enjoy
- One partner makes all the decisions
- One partner yells, hits, or throws things at the other during arguments
- Having more bad times in the relationship than good
Are you or a friend in an abuse relationship?
- Does the individual have unexplained bruises, scratches, or injuries?
- Do you see signs that the individual is afraid of his/her girlfriend or boyfriend?
- Does the boyfriend or girlfriend seem to try to control the individual’s behavior, making all of the decisions, checking up on his/her behavior, demanding to know who the individual has been with, and acting jealous and possessive?
- Does the boyfriend or girlfriend lash out, criticize, or insult the individual?
- Does the individual apologize for the boyfriend or girlfriend’s behavior to you and others? Has the individual casually mentioned the boyfriend or girlfriend’s temper or violent behavior, but then laughed it off as a joke?
- Have you seen the boyfriend or girlfriend be abusive towards other people or things?
- Does the individual seem to have lost interest or to be giving up things that were once important? Has he/she lost interest in school or other activities?
- Has the individual’s appearance or behavior suddenly changed?
- Has the individual stopped spending time with friends and family?
- Have you seen sudden changes in the individual’s mood or personality. Is the individual becoming anxious or depressed, acting out, or being secretive? Is the individual avoiding eye contact, having “crying jags” or getting “hysterical?”
- Has the individual recently started using alcohol or drugs?
Get help/information:
http://www.teendepression.org/
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_teen.htm
http://www.loveisnotabuse.com/
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| Facts about Suicide and Depression | Facts about Dating Violence |
