February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Teen dating violence can include a lot of things, such as relationship abuse, intimate partner violence, relationship violence, dating abuse, domestic abuse, and domestic violence. As a college campus filled with young adults exploring all kinds of relationships, it’s important to be able to recognize the signs of an unhealthy relationship. With hookup culture and toxic cultural messages that promote unhealthy relationships, we need to work to prevent them and help those who need it. As a culture, we’re beginning to build promising starts with programs around giving/getting consent in every situation and feeling comfortable with a partner.
In a society that teaches men that it’s not okay to show emotion and women that you have to be extremely sexual in order to secure a romantic partner, unsafe dating situations can easily occur. According to DoSomething.org, 1 in 3 young adults will be in an abusive or unhealthy relationship. For LGBTQ youth, the statistic is higher: “while 29 percent of heterosexual youth surveyed reported being physically abused by dating partners, for example, 42.8 percent of LGB youth reported the same.” And 88.9 percent of transgender youth reported “physical dating violence.” In order to form healthy relationships, we need to foster trust and communication between each party and establish appropriate boundaries. We also need to be proactive in recognizing all the different forms of teen dating violence: with social media and the internet, violence can be online too.
Educate yourself and your family and friends about recognizing the signs of teen dating violence and how to foster healthy communication and relationships. We are emphasizing the importance of recognizing and preventing teen dating violence in honor of Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month as part of Dickinson’s Building Community Initiative. Each month during the semester we will be highlighting important national topics to celebrate or to raise awareness. So keep an eye out for March’s topics!
For resources for those experiencing teen dating violence or if you want more information on the subject, contact YWCA Carlisle (http://ywcacarlisle.org/) or Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland and Perry County (DVSCP) at http://www.dvscp.org/.
Written by Angelica Mishra ’19, WGRC student worker and Vice President of the Dickinson College AAUW chapter
(Image from loveisrespect.org)