Teen Dating Violence – The Real Deal from a Youth Perspective
Research Conducted by the Rogers Park Young Women’s Action Team (October 2004)
In Spring 2004, we collected surveys from 296 youth ages 13 to 19. 82% of respondents were female and 18% were male. 56% of respondents were African-American, 16.4% were Latino, 11.5% were mixed race, 6.3% were White, 5.2% were Asian.
- 11.1% of teen respondents to our survey said that they have been/are in an abusive relationship. 4.8% said that they were not sure.
- 79% of our survey respondents said that they believed that “dating violence is a big issue among teens.”
- 62.1% of teens said they know other teens who are or have been in an abusive/violent relationship.
- 54% of teens believe that “if someone is being abused, it is not his/her fault.”
- Most teens identify “REAL” violence as physical violence as opposed to emotional abuse.
- A majority of teens (69%) said that they probably would or definitely would break up with their partner if he/she were ever to grab, shove, slap or punch them.
- 74% of our respondents said they would probably or definitely grab, slap, or punch the person back. 52% would get a family member to do this.
- 81% said that they probably or definitely would talk to a friend about the abuse.
- Only 39% of teens that we surveyed would talk to a family member about being abused.
- 19% would probably or definitely talk to a teacher, pastor, or counselor if they were being abused.
- Only 12% probably or definitely would call a dating/domestic violence hotline for advice.
- Most teens that we surveyed didn’t know of many places for teens who are in abusive relationships to get help.
The full Real Deal report can be found in the resources section.
