Teen Dating Violence

Teen dating violence is controlling, abusive, and aggressive behavior in a romantic relationship.

It occurs in both heterosexual and LGBTQIA+ relationships and can include any combination of verbal, emotional, physical, sexual abuse, and financial abuse.

It may start as early as middle school when youth start dating for the first time. The dangerous effects of teen dating violence and sexual assault can significantly affect the rest of a young person’s life. Even after the violence has ended, survivors are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, including binge drinking, cocaine use, suicide attempts, and eating disorders.

A few statistics & facts

Approximately 1 in 3 teens in the United States will experience physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner.¹
Technology (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, blogging, text messaging, etc.) that tweens and teens use can allow teen dating violence to increase in pervasiveness, but remain more hidden than ever.
Only 3% of students who experience dating violence tell an authority figure, while 60% tell a friend.
In Philadelphia, the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 13.6% of girls and 7.7% of boys reported that they were hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose by their romantic partners in the past year, and 11.2% of female students and 4.9% of male students reported they were physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to in a current or previous relationship. The nationwide average for the occurence of physical violence was 11.7% for girls and 7.5% for boys, while the national average for forced sexual intercourse among teen relationships was 10.3% for girls and 3.1% for boys.²

¹Davis, Antoinette, MPH. 2008. Interpersonal and Physical Dating Violence among Teens. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency Focus. Available at http://www.nccd-crc.org/nccd/pubs/Dating%20Violence%20Among%20Teens.pdf.

²MMWR August 12, 2016 / Vol. 65 / No. 9