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Teen Dating Violence
Signs
that your date is abusive:
- Extreme
jealousy
- Controlling
behavior
- Explosive
anger
- Isolates
you from family and friends
- Uses
force during an argument
- Verbally
abusive
- Threatens
you with violence
Early
Warning Signs that your date may become abusive:
- Quick
involvement
- Mood
swings
- Alcohol
and drug use
- Shows
hypersensitivity
- Blames
others for his problems or feelings
- Has
abused former partners
One in three
teenagers has experienced violence in a dating relationship.
Women ages 16 to 24
experience the highest per capita rates of intimate violence.
Forty percent of
teenage girls ages 14 to 17 say they know someone their age who has been
hit or beaten by a boyfriend.
Teen dating
violence most often takes place in the home of one of the partners.
In 1995, 7 percent
of all murder victims were young women who were killed by their
boyfriends.
A survey of 500
young women, ages 15 to 24, found that 60 percent were currently
involved in an ongoing abusive relationship and all participants had
experienced violence in a dating relationship.
One study found
that 38 percent of date rape victims were young women from 14 to 17
years of age.
A survey of
adolescent and college students revealed that date rape accounted for 67
percent of sexual assaults.
Teen
dating violence often is hidden because teenagers typically:
- Are inexperienced
with dating relationships.
- Want independence
from parents.
- Have romanticized
views of love.
- Are pressured by
peers to have dating relationships.
Teen
dating violence is influenced by how teenagers look at themselves and
others. Young men may believe:
- They have the right
to "control" their female partners in any
way necessary.
- “Masculinity”
is physical aggressiveness.
- They
"possess" their partner.
- They should and can
demand intimacy.
- They may lose
respect if they are attentive and supportive toward their girlfriends.
Young
women may believe:
- They are
responsible for solving problems in their relationships.
- Their boyfriend's
jealousy, possessiveness and even physical abuse is
"romantic."
- Abuse is
"normal" because their friends are also being abused.
- They think they can
"cure" the abusive boyfriend.
- There is no one to
ask for help.
Common
clues that indicate a teenager may be experiencing dating violence:
- Physical signs of
injury.
- Truancy and/or
dropping out of school.
- Failing grades.
- Changes in mood or
personality.
- Use of
drugs/alcohol -- where there was no prior use.
- Emotional outburst.
- Isolation from
friends and family.
If someone hurts
you or makes you feel scared or bad in any way, it’s important to talk
about it and tell someone what is happening. Tell your parents, a
teacher or another adult you can trust. You can also call
(All information from www.coolnurse.com/dating_violence.htm
Sexual
Assault
Information from www.911rape.org
Rape
is generally defined as forced or nonconsensual sexual intercourse.
Rape
may be accomplished by fear, threats of harm, and/or actual physical
force. Rape may also include situations in which penetration is
accomplished when the victim is unable to give consent, or is prevented
from resisting, due to being intoxicated, drugged, unconscious, or
asleep.
Sexual
assault is a broader term than rape. It includes various types of
unwanted sexual touching or penetration without consent, such as forced
sodomy (anal intercourse), forced oral copulation (oral-genital
contact), rape by a foreign object (including a finger), and sexual
battery (the unwanted touching of an intimate part of another person for
the purpose of sexual arousal).
The
term "drug-facilitated sexual assault" is generally used to
define situations in which victims are subjected to nonconsensual
sexual acts while they are incapacitated or unconscious due to the
effects of alcohol and/or other drugs and are therefore, prevented from
resisting and/or are unable to give consent.
- Every two and a half
minutes, somewhere in
- One in six American women are victims of sexual assault, and one in 33 men.
- In 2004-2005, there were an average annual 200,780 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.
- About 44% of rape victims are under age 18, and 80% are under age 30.
- Since 1993, rape/sexual assault has fallen by over 69%.
In 2005, there were 191,670 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults according to the 2005 National Crime Victimization Survey.
Of the average annual 200,780 victims in 2004-2005, about 64,080 were victims of completed rape, 51,500 were victims of attempted rape, and 85,210 were victims of sexual assault.
One of six victims are under age 12.
73% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger.
28% were an intimate.
7% were another relative.
