Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month
By Nancy Radcliffe
At HelpLine, we’re committed to building healthy, respectful, caring relationships. We want to do more than “break the cycle” of abuse, we want to promote happiness. Our violence prevention efforts include going into area schools and discussing how they can occur. In middle and high school, we work with students to help prevent dating violence, domestic violence from occurring. We discuss what healthy relationships look like, what people want/need in a dating partner, what abuse looks like, and what you can to help someone who experiences it.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, “Teen dating violence is defined as the physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence within a dating relationship, as well as stalking. It can occur in person or electronically and may occur between a current or former dating partner. You may have heard several different words used to describe teen dating violence. Here are just a few:
- Relationship Abuse
- Intimate Partner Violence
- Relationship Violence
- Dating Abuse
- Domestic Abuse
- Domestic Violence
Adolescents and adults are often unaware that teens experience dating violence. In a nationwide survey, 9.4 percent of high school students report being hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their boyfriend or girlfriend in the 12 months prior to the survey. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey). About 1 in 5 women and nearly 1 in 7 men who ever experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, first experienced some form of partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey).” Source – http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen_dating_violence.html
To find out more about Teen Dating Violence, please check out: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen_dating_violence.html or http://www.loveisrespect.org/dating-basics/dating-basics
For more information about awareness efforts please contact – http://www.loveisrespect.org/get-involved-%E2%80%94-february-teen-dating-violence-awareness-prevention-month
