9781422276082

Introduction

year. Notice that the statistic refers to students , not just young women. Although straight men are stereotyped as being “the abusers” (and certainly that is often true), it’s also true that they also can be the victims of dating abuse. It’s also important to know that abuse comes in many forms that don’t involve violence, such as emotional, sexual, or digital abuse. Stalking is also a very dangerous type of abuse that can take place between people who are, or once were, dating. Whatever shape your dating life takes, there is always the potential for abuse. Abuse has profound and damaging impacts, but that doesn’t mean the marks are always visible. It’s important to know the warning signs and how to keep yourself safe. The National Domestic Violence Hotline sponsored a special project on teen dating abuse called Love is Respect (www.loveisrespect.org). The site provides some fascinating — and disturbing — statistics on the issue of teen dating violence. • Among high school students, 1 in 10 has been hit or slapped by a partner. • Among college women, 43 percent have experienced some form of abuse from someone they were dating, and 16 percent had been sexually abused. • Females between 16 and 24 years old are the most common victims of abuse: the rate is about three times higher than any other demographic group. • Among the teens who have experienced teen dating violence, about two thirds (77 percent) never told anyone about the problem.

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