According to one study, only a third of teens who were in an abusive relationship ever told anyone about the abuse they experienced.The 2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), a national survey of intimate partner violence and sexual violence, collected reports of lifetime intimate partner violence from a random sample of women and men 18 and older.Figure 1 shows the age that women first reported experiencing intimate partner violence, for those women who had reported sexual violence including rape, physical violence, psychological violence, or stalking in their lifetime.Of these women, 69.5 percent reported experiencing intimate partner violence for the first time under the age of 24.However, these behaviors can become abusive and develop into more serious forms of violence.Teen dating violence [PDF 187KB] is defined as the physical, sexual, psychological, or emotional violence within a dating relationship, including stalking. Teen dating violence (physical and sexual) among US high school students: Findings from the 2013 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. As teens develop emotionally, they are heavily influenced by experiences in their relationships.

“Prevalence of Partner Violence in Same-Sex Romantic and Sexual Relationships in a National Sample of Adolescents.” Journal of Adolescent Health 35 (August 2004): 124-131.

Unhealthy relationships can start early and last a lifetime.

Teens often think some behaviors, like teasing and name calling, are a “normal” part of a relationship.

As noted by Jackson (1999), there are a number of methodological explanations for these discrepancies.

In many of the studies by social class, ethnicity or racial identity is confounded with urban or rural community residence which may lead to inconsistent results (Harway & Liss, 1999).