“1 in 3 young people will be in an abusive or unhealthy relationship.”

“33% of adolescents in America are victim to sexual, physical, verbal, or emotional dating abuse.”

“Only 1/3 of the teens who were involved in an abusive relationship confided in someone about it.”

“50% of young people who experience sexual or physical abuse will attempt to commit suicide.”

“Females between the age 16 and 24 are three times more likely than the rest of the population to be abused by an intimate partner.”

All of these are facts about abuse in young adult relationships. It’s sad, isn’t it? So many young adults are not able to tell when their friends, or even themselves, are in an abusive relationship due to the reason that they don’t know what qualifies as abuse. Some people just think abuse is hitting or rape, but it is so much more than that.

There are many types of abuse: physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual to name a few. Physical abuse is when your partner hits, punches, pushes, or any other kind of act that hurts you physically on purpose. Emotional abuse is when your partner makes you feel guilty for anything that goes wrong, makes you feel like you can’t do anything right, and when they are extremely controlling, such as needing to know where you are and what you’re doing at all times. Verbal abuse is calling you names and always disparaging you in front of family and friends, or even alone. Sexual abuse is when they do anything sexual to you without your consent.

Some people think they deserve it. The abuser will make them think that and it is absolutely not true. No one deserves to be abused; No one deserves to have that scar, neither physical nor mental.

Who to Call

• loveisrespect: Call 1-866-331-9474, chat at loveisrespect.org or text “loveis” to 22522, any time, 24/7/365.