Dangers of Relationship Violence
Help prevent dating abuse in CHS
Interview with Officer Freeman
Devin: What are your views on relationship violence?
Officer Freeman: I don’t like it. It’s against the law. Personal views, I think it’s very disrespectful for anybody to do it. I think... We see it on both sides, male versus female...
The Psychological Process of Woman or Men Involved in Abusive Relationships
Researchers analyzed surveys of nearly 6,000 teens across the United States that were taken when the teens were between the ages of 12 and 18, and again five years later. The surveys asked about physical and psychological violence in romantic relationships, and also about feeling depressed, having suicidal thoughts, drinking and doing drugs.
"What stood out was, across both genders and types of victimization, teens who experienced teen dating violence were two to three times more likely to be re-victimized by a partner in young adulthood," said study author Deinera Exner-Cortens, a graduate student in the department of human development at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
Exner-Cortens and her colleagues also found that teens who were victims of dating violence faced higher rates of depression, suicidal thoughts and heavy drinking, which varied by gender.Many teenagers, Ms. Berry said, “see the jealousy and protectiveness as ‘Oh, he loves me so much.’ Girls make excuses for it and don’t realize it’s not about love, but it’s about controlling you as a possession.”
Statistics of Dating Abuse
Rates of both perpetrating and being a victim of relationship violence were higher before college than during college.
53 percent of women and 27.2 percent of men reported victimization
More than half (130 of 227 reports) of the violence experienced during college was related to a partner rather than a friend or acquaintance.
Emotional violence was most common before college (21.1 percent), while sexual and emotional violence were equally common during college (12 percent and 11.8 percent).
Men were more likely to perpetrate sexual violence, while women were more likely to perpetrate physical violence.