top of page
Teen Dating Violence

 

Love Me Not Organization's primary goal is to promote connectedness and reduce the incidence of teen dating violence. 

What is Teen Dating Violence?

 

 

Teen dating violence is physical, psychological, emotional, or sexual violence that occurs in a dating relationship. Teen dating violence includes stalking (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013).

Physical and Emotion Violence (What's the Difference?)

 

Unhealthy teen dating relationships take many forms. There are often physical and emotional forms of violence.  Most people recognize the physical violence, as the marks are often visible.  Emotional violence can be equally damaging, and harder to see. Here are some examples of what emotional and physical violence might look like:

 

Emotional:

 

  • Controlling Behavior: an abusive partner may want to control where you go and with who, or want to keep tabs on you at all time via text, twitter, and Facebook. As this evolves, this type of partner might not let you leave the house or withhold money to exert more control

  • Unrealistic Behavior: abusive partners often expect you to be their everything--to soothe all of their ailments and take care of all of his or her concerns. It might be hard for you to meet this person’s unrealistic expectations

  • Hypersensitivity: abusers might have explosive and disproportionate reactions to everyday events. An abuser might be easily insulted, and spend excessive time complaining about everyday injustices like traffic tickets

  • Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde Personality: an abuser might switch personalities/moods at the drop of a dime so their partner remains constantly confused and not sure what to expect

  • Isolation: preventing his or her partner from contacting their friends and family.

  • Play Mind Games: blame abuse on the survivor or trick the survivor into thinking abuse isn’t really happening

  • Threatens: to commit suicide

 

Physical:

 

  • Intimidates partner with guns or knives

  • Cruelty to animals or children

  • Past Batterers: an abuser might tell you that they hit someone in the past while blaming it on the partner and not accepting blame

  • Breaking or Striking Objects: either to punish the partner by destroying a beloved item or to frighten the partner with a show of violence

  • Any use of force during an argument. This might include preventing his/her partner from leaving the room

Statistics

  • Among adult victims of rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner, 22.4% of women and 15.0% of men first experienced some form of partner violence between 11 and 17 years of age.

  • 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.

  • Nearly half of all teens in relationships say they know friends who have been verbally abused.

  • Victims of teen dating violence are more likely to do poorly in school, and report binge drinking, suicide attempts, physical fighting, and current sexual activity.

  • Girls and women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rates of intimate partner violence.

  • 1 in 5 high school girls is physically or sexually hurt by a dating partner.

  • 1 in 3 teens experience some kind of abuse in their romantic relationships.

  • Only 33 % of teens who have been in or known about an abusive dating relationship report having told anyone about it.

  • Teen girls face relationship violence 3 times more than adult women.

  • 25% of victims say they have been isolated from family and friends.

  • More than half of victims say they have compromised their own beliefs to please a partner.

  • Cell phone calls and texting mean constant control: 1 in 3 teens say they are text messaged 10, 20, 30 times an hour by a partner keeping tabs on them

  • The majority of parents of teen victims are unaware of the abuse

(CDC)

EFFECTS OF Teen Dating Violence

 

About 32 million women in America who experienced intimate partner violence reported at least one measured impact/effect related to forms of violent behavior in the relationship.  

 

​These effects might be:

 

  • PTSD

    • Being easily startled

    • Nightmares

    • Flashbacks

    • Severe anxiety

    • Feeling like you're reliving violent/bad events in the relationship

    • Trouble Sleeping

  • Depression

    • Feeling sad for a long period of time

    • Hopelessness

    • Unexplained crying

    • Changes in weight and eating habits

    • In severe cases of depression, people may experience suicidal thoughts.  If you or someone you know has thoughts of suicide, encourage them to call the National Scuicide Prevention Hotline at (800) 273-TALK

  • Disassociation

    • Fereling like you've checked out

    • Daydreaming

    • Inability to focus on tasks

  • Physical Effects of Teen Dating Abuse

    • Bruises

    • Black eyes

    • Red or purple marks at the neck

    • Sprained or broken wrists

  • Overall Physical Effects

    • Chronic fatigue

    • Feeling short of breath

    • Involuntary shaking

    • Changes to eating and sleeping habits

    • In women, issues in menstrual cycle or fertility

  • Temporary Coping

    • Domestic violence can be overwhelming, isolating, and difficult to handle. Many survivors might try to cope with these feelings by self-medicating with drugs or alcohol.  They might also engage in self-injurious behaviors for a sense of temporary release and control.  This behaviors provide only temporary relief and may lead to deeper issues in the future.
        

    • In addition, survivors often have trouble trusting others after their trust has been violated in the context of an abusive relationship.  Although these challenges are intense, there is hope for overcoming the painful effects of domestic violence.  Through time, self-care, and patience, survivors are able to regain healthy relationships and build positive coping mechanisms.  It’s important for survivors to remember that they don’t have to go it alone!  Check out our resource page to see the people waiting to help you in your community!

 

(joyfulheartfoundation.org)

Love Me Not Organization

bottom of page