Get information on teen dating violence here.

Statistics

• Nearly 1.5 million high school students nationwide experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year. (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003.
• Girls and young women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence -- almost triple the national average. (Source: Department of Justice, 2006.)
• The severity of intimate partner violence is often greater in cases where the pattern of abuse was established in adolescence. (Source: S.L. Feld & M.A. Strauss, 1989.
• Being physically or sexually abused makes teen girls 6x more likely to become pregnant and twice as likely to get an STI. (Source: Decker M, Silverman J, Raj A. Dating Violence and Sexually Transmitted Disease/HIV Testing and Diagnosis Among Adolescent Females, 2005.)
• 19% of teens in relationships say their partner has used a cellular device or the Internet to spread rumors or share private and embarrassing pictures or videos of them (Liz Claiborne Inc., Conducted by Teen Research Unlimited, 2007.)
• Only 33% of teens who were in a violent relationship ever told anyone about the abuse. (Source: Liz Claiborne Inc., Conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, 2005.)
• Eighty one percent of parents believe teen dating violence is not an issue or admit they don’t know if it’s an issue. (Source: “Women’s Health,” Family Violence Prevention Fund and Advocates for Youth, 2004.)

Digital Abuse

Digital dating abuse is the use of technology such as texting and social media to stalk, harass or intimidate a partner. This behavior is a form of emotional or verbal abuse that is being perpetrated in an online setting.

You may be experiencing digital abuse if your partner:

• Looks through your phone, checking texts, calls, and pictures.
• Constantly texts or calls and is upset if there isn’t an immediate response.
• Sends you unwanted explicit pictures or videos and asks the same of you. Often referred to as sexting.
• Uses sites like Facebook and Twitter to keep tabs on you.
• Puts you down in a status update.
• Sends you negative or insulting e-mails, texts, tweets or Facebook messages.
• Tells you who you can and cannot be friends with on Facebook or other sites.
• Steals or insists on being given your passwords.

If you are leaving an abusive relationship, you may want to:

• Block your ex from Facebook and other social networking pages. Don’t check-in on Foursquare or other location-based apps or sites – you may not want your ex to know where you are.
• Adjust your privacy settings to reduce the amount of information people can view on your page.
• Avoid posting private details on your friend’s page because they may not have appropriate privacy settings in place.
• Keep track of threatening texts or messages.

FAQs