What is Teen Dating Violence?

Hey everyone! In honour of this month being Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, I figured I should create a thread explaining what Teen Dating Violence actually is. It affects many more people than you would originally believe, and yet there remains this huge stigma that stops people from opening up about their experiences.

What is teen dating violence?

Teen Dating Violence (also known as relationship abuse, dating abuse, domestic violence, domestic abuse, etc.) is any form of abuse that occurs in a dating/romantic relationship involving a teenager. That abuse could be physical, sexual, emotional, verbal, and even stalking. It can occur both in person and online, and is present in both new and older relationships.

What are the effects of teen dating violence?

Teen Dating Violence is something that can affect people for their entire life. Romantic, possibly intimate relationships can influence people greatly. While a healthy relationship can positively influence a teen's life, an unhealthy relationship can have many short and long-term consequences.

Teens are more likely to go through depressive episodes if they've been in an unhealthy relationship; in addition, they are more likely to experience symptoms of anxiety. Eating disorders and alcohol/drug abuse are also more frequently apparent in teens going through dating violence. It's much easier for teens in harmful relationships to avoid engaging in social situations than it is to talk and get help, and experiencing teen dating violence can also lead to thoughts about suicide. In fact, 50% of adolescents who are physically or sexually abused will attempt to commit suicide.

Being in an unhealthy relationship can also lead a person to engage in more violent behaviour themselves. Many of the people who abuse their partners and families report that they also experienced abuse at one point in their lives.

How common is teen dating violence?

Teen dating violence is something I've always been aware of, but I never realized just how common it is, so when I started researching the topic, I was shocked. I learned that 33% of US adolescents will be in abusive and unhealthy relationships. While that's an American statistic, similar statistics exist in various countries around the world. 25% of high school girls will experience specifically physical or sexual abuse, and as I previously mentioned, 50% of teens who are abused in those ways attempt to commit suicide.

Clearly, teen dating violence is a huge issue, but it isn't talked about very much. This is due to things like stigma, a lack of awareness, and also unclear laws about domestic abuse. For instance, in the US, 8 states don't consider dating violence to be domestic abuse. Therefore, there are many people in those areas who are under similar impressions. A common misconception about dating violence is that because it occurs within a romantic/intimate relationship, the stuff happening in the relationship is consensual. Despite that belief, teen dating violence is not acceptable. No one deserves to be violated, even if it is your partner. If this is something that affects you, please know that 7 Cups is not the rest of the world. We know that dating violence is harmful, and we are here for you. We have a number of tools available for you to use to seek support, including a forum thread to share your story. You don't have to be alone as you try to get through the pain of your relationships, because we are here for you.

Sources:
https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-teen-dating-violence
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/teen_dating_violence.html
http://www.loveisrespect.org/resources/teendvmonth/
http://www.loveisrespect.org/resources/dating-violence-statistics/