Skip to main content

Teen Dating Violence

crying

sad

No teen is immune from violence. Both males and females can be victims, but they are abusive in different ways:

  • Girls are more likely to yell, hurt themselves, pinch, slap, scratch, or kick
  • Boys injure girls more severely and more frequently
  • Girls are more likely to be sexually abused
  • Between 1993-1999, 22% of homicides against females ages 16-29 were committed by an intimate partner
  • Male peer support for violence against women is a constant predictor of male violence.
  • GLBTQ youths are just as likely to experience dating violence as youths involved in opposite sex dating.
  • Females ages 16-24 are more vulnerable to dating violence than any other age group. ( 3X the national average)
  • 1 in 5 female high school students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner
  • ½ of adult sex offenders report committing their first sexual offenses prior to the age of 18
  • 58% of rape victims report being raped between the ages of 12 and 24 yrs
  • Half of reported date rapes occur among teenagers
  • Intimate partner violence among teens is associated with increased risk of substance use, eating disorders, sexual risk behaviors, pregnancy and suicide
  • 1 in 3 teens know a friend who has been physically hurt by their partner
  • 45% of girls know a friend who has been pressured into either sexual intercourse or oral sex.

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 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.
  • there is no one to ask for help.
Changed