Teens stand up to domestic violence

angelaBOOTH

On November 1st, former Clearwater High School student, Melissa Dohme, brought a certain awareness to Countryside High school about abusive relationships and teen dating, wrapping up domestic violence awareness month in October.

The goal of the presentation was to help teens recognize and understand abusive relationships. It was made so that teens will be able to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy relationships, and show what an abusive relationship may encompass.

There are many different kinds of abuse that were brought up during this presentation. These included, physical, emotional/verbal, sexual, and even financial abuse. Financial abuse could include someone who steals money from their partner, or forces them to pay for almost everything.

Only 13% of girls report abuse in their own relationship.“Violence in relationships often times starts out with verbal abuse. Many victims in relationships that are abusive often times don’t report because of the emotional attachment they have to their partners. The abusive partner is manipulative, and has a large amount of control over how the other person feels and acts. I was one of the few people that did report,” says anonymous, former domestic violence victim.

Statistics say that 1 out of 3 teenage girls have been reported to have been physically harmed in an a relationship and 1 out of 7 men have been physically harmed by women.

The presentation not only caused you to ask yourself about how you are being treated in a relationship, but also about how you yourself are treating your partner. The main reason for abuse in relationships was clearly stated, which was that it is caused by one’s desire for power and control over another.

According to the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ACADV), there are 8 main ways one can gain power and control in dating over the other which are: intimidation, violation of privacy, threatening, using male privilege, limiting independence, humiliation, isolation, and harassment.

Many people question why people stay in these types of relationships. Many would agree that it could be for irrational reasons such as, a need for financial stability or not wanting to be alone. Melissa Dohme shared with students about her life-threatening situation, and about how it was fear that kept her from reporting her partner, who had threatened to kill her if she left him (See A Surviving Champion of Domestic Violence article for more details on her story).

Only 13 percent of girls report abuse in their own relationship.

Motivational speaker Chad Herman, who also spoke at the seminar, spoke with students on November 1st about how vital it is to make many people aware of domestic violence and about how it can happen to everyone.

If you or anyone you know is a victim of Domestic violence, please call the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence hotline at 1-800-500-1119. See additional numbers and websites for more information.