When most people think of domestic violence, they think of married men and women, and that is as it should be because that’s where most sexual assaults happen-in domestic disputes. But there is another group that is often overlooked-teenagers. Teenagers, teen dating and teen relationships are an often undiscussed segment of the population where sexual assaults proliferate.
There was a study years ago that addressed this issue, and those statistics from then are still true today; that one in five high school girls reports being abused by a boyfriend, and that one of every three teen dating relationships has some type of physical aggression. Is that love or what?
Date rape is an expression that started in colleges and universities, but 38% of date rape incidents happen to girls 14 to 17.
In that same study nearly three-fourths of girls reported some form of emotional partner violence. The issue has become so serious that the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta classifies it as an epidemic.
The problem with teen dating relationships is very complex. Part of it is dealing with the unknown and inexperience on the part of the young girl. She is sometimes reluctant to talk to her peers for fear of ridicule or to her parents out of shame. For the young man’s part there is no doubt in our mind that it is a learned trait unfortunately. Young boys learn this kind of behavior from their fathers. When they see their dad beating up on your mom with little or no consequence, they figure it’s okay. It goes downhill from there.
Abusive Relationship Warning Signs
- Fewer friends on Facebook and other social media.
- Less bubbly or engaging personality.
- Short fuse irritability when asked about circumstances.
- Changes in appearance or activities.
- Of course, physical signs of injury such as unexplained bruises.
- Missing school.
- Isolation or withdrawal from friends or activities.
Partner Abuse Warning Signs
Here are some warning signs when a boyfriend or girlfriend becomes abusive.
- They show jealousy in extremes.
- They display controlling behavior.
- They want to monitor all forms of communication from telephone calls to emails.
- They blame everybody else for problems.
Part of the problem appears to be that young women have no source of information about how to react in dating relationships when they get out of hand physically. It isn’t taught in schools and most parents don’t teach it either. So most young women are on their own, which is why we suggest that they learn some basic self-defense techniques such as the ones that are in this self-defense training DVD called Woman’s Combat. Then they should arm themselves with a self-defense product such as a pepper spray or stun device.
We have 180 different styles and types of pepper sprays and the most popular type is a keychain pepper spray with 106 varieties to choose from. The most popular of them all is this Streetwise keychain Hot Defensive Spray that has as many as nine shots of oleoresin capsicum that can reach someone up to 7 feet away.