‘Dating violence normalised for older teenagers’
DATING and relationship violence is becoming normalised for teenagers, according to new research.
More than half of 16- to 19-yearolds in further education say they have experienced some form of violence when dating or in a relationship.
A study of more than 2,000 FE students, conducted by Cardiff University, found that 55.1% of males and 53.5% of females reported experiencing threats, emotional abuse, coercion, controlling behaviours, physical violence, and coerced, non-consensual or abusive sexual activities perpetrated by a current or former casual or steady partner.
Rates were the same regardless of social, ethnic or economic background or educational achievement.
Around 45% of those in the study reported sending sexually explicit images and these were found to be between two and eight times more likely to have experienced some form of dating and relationship violence.
The study of 2,105 students at three FE institutions in Wales and three in England found that the most common form of dating and relationship violence was controlling behaviour, which was reported by more than one-third of all participants with dating or relationship experience.
Between 10 and 15% of both males and females said they had experienced physical violence, while 27% of males and 31% of females said they had been on the receiving end of threatening behaviour.
Dr Honor Young, of Cardiff University’s School of Social Sciences, led the research. She said the results suggested some sort of universal intervention was needed.
“The results of this study found that, generally, socio-demographic characteristics were not related to dating and relationship violence. The absence of gender differences and social patterning suggests that dating and relationship violence is becoming normalised for 16- to 19-year-olds. The other result from the study was the increased odds of experiencing some form of dating and relationship violence for those who have ever sent a sexually explicit image.
“This was between two and eight times greater for males and two to four times greater for females. With the data that we have, we don’t know the order of events – which came first, the sexually explicit images or the dating and relationship violence – but we do know that those who have ever sent a sexually explicit image were more likely to have also experienced some form of dating and relationship violence.”
The research report, which says it is the first such study of its kind, warns: “Adolescence is a key period where norms are established and dating and relationship violence begins to manifest...
“More research is needed to contextualise the understanding of what young people think constitutes dating and relationship violence,” the document adds.
The research was conducted as part of the SaFE (Safe Sex and Healthy Relationships in Further Education) project, a collaboration between Cardiff University, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Institute of Education and sexual health charity Brook.
Funding came from the Medical Research Council’s Public Health Intervention Development scheme.