Addressing Dating Violence
by Laura Uribe-Center
November 13, 2007
House Bill 121 was sign into law by Governor Perry on May 18, 2007. Beginning this school year, this law mandates that all school districts in Texas adopt and implement a dating violence policy. TEA is creating a comprehensive dating violence programs that will be available for the district to use to carry out this program in the Spring. Secondary school counselors will be attending training on Nov. 12th to begin the process of planning the implementation of this program.
TEEN DATING VIOLENCE FACTS:
PREVELANCE AND
FREQUENCEY
Teen dating violence runs across race, gender, and
socioeconomic lines. Both males and females are victims, but boys
and girls are abusive in different ways:
Girls are more likely to yell, threaten to hurt themselves,
pinch, slap, scratch or kick;
Boys injure girls more severely and frequently;
Some teen victims experience violence occasionally;
Others are abused more often… sometimes daily.
Teen Victim Project,”
National Center for Victims of Crime, http://www.ncvc.org/tvp
Female’s ages 16-24 are more vulnerable to intimate partner violence than any other age group –at a rate almost triple the national average. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report: Intimate Partner Violence and Age of victim, 1993-1999 (Oct. 2001,rev. 11/28/01).
Approximately 1 in 5 female high school students report being physically and/or sexually abused by a dating partner.Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 286, (No. 5, 2001)
58% of rape victims report being raped between the ages of
12-24.
Health Resources and
Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS0,
(2002)
PARENTAL
AWARENESS
81% of parents surveyed either believe teen dating
violence is not an issue or admit they don’t know if it’s an
issue.
“Women’s Health,” June/July
2004, Family Violence Prevention Fund and Advocates for
Youth
TEEN
AWARENESS
Nearly 25% of 14-17 year-olds surveyed know at least one student
who was a victim of dating violence, while 11% know multiple
victims of dating violence. 33% of teens have actually witnessed
such an event.
Empower Program, sponsored
by Liz Claiborne Inc. and conducted by Knowledge Networks, Social
Control, Verbal Abuse, and Violence
Among Teenagers, (2000).
20% of surveyed male students report witnessing someone they go
to high school with physically hit a person they were dating.
Tiffany J. Zwicker,
Education Policy Brief,” The Imperative of Developing Teen Dating
Violence Prevention and Intervention Programs in
Secondary Schools.” 12 Southern California Review of Law and
Women’s Studies, 131, (2002)
