Although most people assume they'll never be in an abusive relationship, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 26 percent of women and 15 percent of men experience intimate partner violence before age 18.
Most teens in abusive relationships don't know where to seek help, and almost none of them tell their parents. Relationship abuse isn't limited to a certain group; abuse affects people of every gender, race, class, sexual orientation and nationality.
Abuse is a way of controlling another person, and even abuse that doesn’t leave physical marks can have profound emotional consequences and put the person being abused in danger.
Adolescents and adults are often unaware about how regularly dating abuse occurs:
- One study by Choose Respect found that one in four adolescents reports verbal, physical, emotional or sexual abuse each year.
- Recent studies show that one-third of teens experience some form of abuse in dating relationships.
- More than half of the teens surveyed know someone who has been abused.
Especially because of these kinds of statistics, it is very important to recognize the danger signs of an abusive relationship so that you can make sure you get out as soon as possible.
