Information For Teens
Teen Dating Violence
What Is It?
Dating violence is controlling, abusive, and aggressive behavior in a romantic relationship.
It can happen in straight or gay relationships. It can include verbal, emotional, physical, sexual abuse or a combination. Anyone can be a victim of dating violence regardless of gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
Controlling behavior may include:
- Not letting you hang out with your friends
- Calling or texting you frequently to find out where you are, whom you're with and what you're doing
- Telling you what to wear
- Having to be with you all the time
Verbal and emotional abuse may include:
- Calling you names
- Jealousy
- Belittling you (cutting you down)
- Threatening to hurt you, someone in your family, or himself or herself if you don't do what he or she wants
Physical abuse may include:
- Shoving
- Punching
- Slapping
- Pinching
- Hitting
- Kicking
- Hair Pulling
- Strangling
Sexual abuse may include:
- Unwanted touching and kissing or forced affection
- Forcing you to have sex
- Not letting you use birth control
- Forcing or bribing you to engage in sexual activity
If You Are a Victim of Dating Violence, You Might…
- Think it's your fault.
- Feel angry, sad, lonely, depressed, or confused.
- Feel helpless to stop the abuse.
- Feel threatened or humiliated.
- Feel anxious.
- Not know what might happen next.
- Feel like you can't talk to family and friends.
- Be afraid of getting hurt more seriously.
- Feel protective of your boyfriend or girlfriend.
You Are Not Alone!
- One in five teens in a serious relationship reports having been hit, slapped, or pushed by a partner.
- 50 to 80 percent of teens have reported knowing others who were involved in violent relationships.
- Teens identifying as gay, lesbian, and bisexual are as likely to experience violence in same-sex dating relationships as youths involved in opposite sex dating.
- Many studies indicate that, as a dating relationship becomes more serious, the potential for and nature of violent behavior escalates.
- Young women, ages 16 to 24 years, experience the highest rates of relationship violence.
Information on this page has been adapted from the National Center for Victims of Crime Teen Tools.
