Am I at Risk to be Abused in a Relationship...

Because of the following risk factors?

Personal and Family Problems:

  • Living in a household where relationships rely on power & control over others
  • Low family income
  • Family stress related to unemployment
  • Low self-esteem
  • Emotional insecurity
  • Use of alcohol and illegal drugs
  • Family history of physical abuse
  • Angry and hostile attitudes in household
  • Dependency on others for happiness
  • Belief in males dominating females
  • Poor school performance
  • Aggressive or delinquent behavior as a teen
  • Depression
  • Having few friends and being isolated from other people
  • Observing a parent being physically or emotionally abused
  • Being a victim of physical discipline as a child
  • Being neglected by a parent as a child

Problems in Your Community and Society:

  • Living in a low income area; overcrowded neighborhoods
  • High levels of domestic violence in the community
  • Poor response from neighbors to community violence
  • Society views that girls and women should be submissive to boys and men

Warning Signs of Abuse

Emotional:

  • Behaving jealously toward you
  • Calling you or your friends names
  • Threatening to harm you
  • Putting you down
  • Belittling or insulting you
  • Scaring you
  • Spreading lies about you
  • Telling you where you can and cannot go
  • Blaming you for things you did not do
  • Humiliating you or your friends in public
  • Isolating you from family or friends
  • Threatening you if you refuse sex or touches
  • Intimidating you with inappropriate behavior
  • Disregarding your feelings
  • Telling you who you can or cannot talk to
  • Changing personality from nice to really mean
  • Threatening to harm himself if you break up
  • Promising to change after you cry or feel bad

Physical:

  • Pushing, hitting, shoving or shaking you
  • Pulling your hair
  • Throwing objects around or at you
  • Biting, scratching or pinching you
  • Choking you
  • Restricting your movements by holding you
  • Damaging or breaking things that belong to you
  • Touching you inappropriately
  • Injuring pets in front of you
  • Injuring animals as a threat of what can be done to you
  • Behaving in a threatening or intimidating way toward you
  • Forcing you into sexual activity
  • Using or showing you a weapon (knife, gun, other)
  • Hurting your friends or family members

Teen Dating Abuse Information

Does your boyfriend/girlfriend...

  • Have a history of bad relationships or past violence; always blames his/her problems on other people; or blames you for "making" him/her treat you badly?
  • Try to use drugs or alcohol to coerce you or get you alone when you don't want to be?
  • Try to control you by being bossy, not taking your opinion seriously or making all of the decisions about who you see, what you wear, what you do, etc.?
  • Talk negatively about people in sexual ways or talk about sex like it's a game or contest?

Do you...

  • Feel less confident about yourself when you're with him/her?
  • Feel scared or worried about doing or saying "the wrong thing?"
  • Find yourself changing your behavior out of fear or to avoid a fight?