DATING VIOLENCE
| Activity | Statistics Activity |
Time of Year |
October – SADD Calendar |
Summary |
When people realize how common dating violence is, they can recognize warning signs and feel less isolated if it is happening to them. |
Objective |
To increase teens’ awareness of the incidence of dating violence |
Who |
Middle or high school students |
| Materials Needed |
|
What to Do
- Write the statements below on the board or on a flip chart, leaving a blank space for the answer.
- Read the statement and have the group guess the correct statistic. (You may also paste the statements on the wall, write the statistics on flashcards, and have students paste the statistic with the statement they believe is the correct answer.)
- Once they guess the correct answer or several people have guessed, write the correct answer.
- Consider getting small prizes like candy or key chains to give to those who guessed correctly or the closest to the correct answer.
Write the following statements, leaving the statistic blank for the group to guess. After students have guessed the correct answer, read the bulleted point.
National studies estimate that 28% of teen dating relationships involve violence.
- That’s almost one out of every three teen relationships.
According to the FBI, every 15 seconds in the United States a woman is beaten by an intimate partner.
- That means four women in the past minute we’ve been in the room and 240 women in the past hour have been abused.
Domestic/dating violence is the #1 reason why women go to the emergency room (more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined).
- Women often don’t tell how they really got injured because of fear, denial, protecting the abuser, etc. ER nurses and doctors are trained to look for signs of domestic/dating violence injuries. Veterinarians are also educated about signs of pet abuse, because abusers often are violent with pets as well.
Of women who report being raped at some point in their lives, 54% say that they were raped before the age of 19.
- One out of three girls and one out of six guys are raped by the time they are 18. Girls 14-17 years old are at the highest risk for being raped.
The rate of domestic violence in same-gender relationships is 25%.
- That is roughly the same number as domestic violence in heterosexual relationships, but it can be experienced differently by the victims because of the isolation in these relationships.
More than 70% of pregnant or parenting teens experience violence in their dating relationships.
- This number is so high because abusers often feel a loss of control over the amount of attention they are being paid or the time spent on them and/or their partner’s body changes. Often there is a significant age difference, which increases the risk for abuse.
In a recent study of high school students who were abused …
- 25% of the students told no one about the abuse,
- 26% told their parents, and
- 66% reported the abuse to their friends.
- That 66% is why we are here. As friends we are in an important position to help because we usually notice what’s going on in our friends’ relationships. They often listen to us and need our support; by being educated about this subject, we can help prevent dating violence.
This activity is adapted from the RESPECT program of Youth Eastside Services Teen Dating Violence Program.
