Dating Violence

Dating violence is a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control over another person through fear and intimidation, often including the threat or use of violence including emotional/verbal abuse, physical or sexual violence. Click here to learn about common signs of domestic violence in a relationship.

• 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.
• 1 in 3 adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.

Resource: Loveisrespect.org• Half of youth who have been victims of both dating violence and rape attempt suicide, compared to 12.5% of non-abused girls and 5.4% of non-abused boys. (1)
• Physical and sexual dating violence against adolescent girls is associated with increased risk of drug or alcohol use, eating disorders, sexual risk behaviors, pregnancy and attempts to commit or consider suicide (2)
• Having been a victim of physical dating violence is associated with lower than average grades and poor school attachment for male and female students in grades 7 through 12 (3)(1) D. M. Ackard, Minneapolis, MN, and D. Neumark-Sztainer, Date Violence and Date Rape Among Adolescents: Associations with Disordered Eating Behaviors and Psychological Health, Child Abuse & Neglect, 26 455-473, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, , 2002.
(2) Jay G. Silverman, PhD; Anita Raj, PhD; Lorelei A. Mucci, MPH; Jeanne E. Hathaway, MD, MPH, Dating Violence Against Adolescent Girls and Associated Substance Use, Unhealthy Weight Control, Sexual Risk Behavior, Pregnancy and Suicidality, Journal of the American Medical Association, August 1, 2001.
(3) Banyard, VL, Cross C. Consequences of Teen Dating Violence: Understanding Intervening Variables in Ecological Context. Violence Against Women. 14:998-1013, 2008