Dating violence is a form of abuse that occurs between intimate partners. There are many types of dating abuse. These are placed into three broad categories including sexual, emotional, and physical. In severe cases, a partner may be subjected to these three forms of abuse. These forms of abuse are perpetual problems in society and this necessitates the need to study them comprehensively to find sustainable ways of mitigating them. Anybody can be subject to dating violence. Indeed, abuse can happen irrespective of the couple’s race, income, age, or other demographic features. Nevertheless, there are many mutual characteristics between victims and abusers. Abusers are described as people who are possessive and jealous, have mood swings, or overly jealous ( Morris, Mrug, & Windle, 2015) . Moreover, there are abusers who have a past of violence, seek to alienate their partner from friends and family, and usually blame external risk factors. A person who possesses two or more risk factors is highly susceptible to be an abuser. Victims of dating violence also share many features. The most common traits include physical signs of injury, decreased performance at school or work, shifts in personality and mood, missing time at school or work, increased seclusion form family and friends, and increased substance abuse ( Morris, Mrug, & Windle, 2015) . Victims usually blame themselves for the abuse they endure or may downplay the severity of the abuse. Due to this tendency, victims choose to stay in violent relationships. Whereas men form the biggest percentage of abusers, it is important not to overlook the number of injuries caused by women. Overall, dating abuse can happen to anyone and it is important not to ignore the underlying factors to help the victims The three forms of dating abuse include sexual, emotional, and physical violence. Emotional abuse occurs when a partner is afraid of their date, afraid of angering their date and cannot even disagree with the partner, and the date tends to humiliate and embarrass them ( Edwards, 2015) . This form of abuse can also be psychological when the date threatens to use violence or hurt themselves. Sexual abuse occurs when the date forces their partner to have intercourse, when one partner is afraid to say no to sexual demands, or when the date does not care about the effects of a sexual act or the feelings of the partner about the act. Lastly, physical occurs when a partner engages in physical attacks or when a person is geld down, kicked, punched or thrown things at. There are victims of dating violence who face two or more forms abuse at the same time. These are severe cases that may cause permanent damage to a person and change their personality. There is a wide array of services available to victims of dating violence. These resources help with the counseling and recovery of victims. In addition, they offer legal help to those who want to seek press charges against their abusive partner. The most common type of service is national hotlines. These hotlines facilitate support from caring advocates who are well-trained. They are available all-year round and a victim can call them at any time of the day. The advocates help survivors and victims of dating violence to find assistance and support in their communities, even if the person only needs to talk to someone before making a move ( Morris, Mrug, & Windle, 2015) . Caring advocates help victims to think through how they can stay safe in violent situations while developing a safety plan. Another service is the state domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions. Each state has this service, whereby a coalition represents victims of domestic violence. They connect victims to local domestic violence initiatives and shelters they can use temporarily. This service is reinforced by local domestic abuse programs. On top of offering safe shelters during emergencies, these programs collaborate with a victim to ensure a person lives a non-violent life. On that note, there is a wide array of services offered by these local programs; (1) assistance in safety planning; (2) referrals and legal assistance for getting protection orders; (3) support groups and counseling of victims; (4) assistance applying for housing subsidies and public help; (4) transitional housing; and (5) referrals to mental health, addiction, and counseling services ( Morris, Mrug, & Windle, 2015) . These local and community-based programs play a key role in helping victims take the first step. The last type of service is national resource centers and institutes that focus on specific cultures. Each of the service mentioned above collaborate and receive guidance, assistance, and training from national resource centers to develop the Domestic Violence Resource Network. The service if financed by the U.S Department of Human Health and Services. Its main role is to inform and reinforce interventions while engaging in prevention programs at the societal, community, and individual level. While most cases of dating violence go unreported, there are certain trends and patterns that emerge from the cases that have been reported. The National Statistics Domestic Violence Fact Sheet reveals that more than 10 million people are physically abused by their date in one year. In addition, one in four women and one in nine men experience partner violence. A worrying trend is the growth of dating violence amongst the youth as around 1.5 million teenagers face abuse form their date in a year. In addition, 43% of dating college women have experienced some form dating abuse (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, n.d). These figures are alarming as they show the frequency of dating abuse in society. It is about time that this problem is addressed at the individual, communal, and national level. There is no universal solution to prevent dating violence. However, dating abuse can be prevented when attention is paid to the risk factors. Further, there should be support for the protective factors, and when people are empowered by family, friends, and other key people in their lives like mentors and teachers to engage in healthy relationships and lead meaningful lives ( Edwards, 2015) . It is vital to develop spaces, like school communities, whereby values against dating abuse are instilled. There should be clarity in the message to make it apparent that abuse will; not be tolerated. Finally, policies should be enforced to keep people, especially students, safe from dating abuse. Dating violence is a prominent issue in society. There are three main types of abuse and severe violence can lead to permanent damages that will forever change a person. It is important for people, particularly the youth, to learn how to have healthy relationships. Ultimately, the mitigation of dating violence lies with a person. If a person feels that they are not in a healthy relationship, then they should end it and seek help if necessary.
References
Edwards, K. M., Sylaska, K. M., Barry, J. E., Moynihan, M. M., Banyard, V. L., Cohn, E. S., ... & Ward, S. K. (2015). Physical dating violence, sexual violence, and unwanted pursuit victimization: A comparison of incidence rates among sexual-minority and heterosexual college students. Journal of interpersonal violence , 30 (4), 580-600.
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Morris, A. M., Mrug, S., & Windle, M. (2015). From family violence to dating violence: Testing a dual pathway model. Journal of youth and adolescence , 44 (9), 1819-1835.
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (n.d). “The National Statistics Domestic Violence Fact Sheet.” Retrieved from https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2497/domestic_violence2.pdf
