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Dating Violence on College Campuses
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lockersCollege students experience dating violence at staggering rates and face unique obstacles in accessing services to escape an abusive relationship.

The Facts of Victimization

  • Women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest rate of intimate partner violence.
  • 32% of college students report dating violence by a previous partner, and 21% report violence by a current partner.
  • 60% of acquaintance rapes on college campuses occur in a causal or steady dating relationships.
  • In one year, more than 13% of college women indicated they had been stalked, 42% of those stalked were victimized by a boyfriend or ex-boyfriend.
  • As many as one in four female students experience sexual assault over the course of their college career.
  • Approximately 90% of victims of sexual assault on college campuses know their attacker.

Obstacles to Getting Help

  • College students may feel trapped by the social networks and closed environment of the campus community.
  • Residential life staff may not be adequately trained to respond to dating abuse, stalking and other similar incidents in the dorms.
  • The campus judicial process may require confrontation between a victim and an abuser in front of a jury of peers.
  • Reporting procedures and policies may be unclear and campus police may not have the skills to respond appropriately.
  • Preventive education may not be offered on campus.
  • Support services such as counseling, reproductive health care and advocacy may not be available within campus confines.
  • Students away from home for the first time may become isolated from their personal support network and help resources.
  • Establishing an effective safety plan can be difficult when an abuser and victim live in the same dorm, attend the same classes or belong to the same organizations.
  • Nearly 88% of victims who report dating violence report it to a friend. Unfortunately, campus peers are often unaware of how to help.

What Can I Do?

  • Become familiar with crisis hotlines and campus help resources including counseling services, health centers and support groups.
  • Identify local shelters and advocacy groups.
  • Learn about campus policies for responding to stalking, dating abuse and sexual assault and get involved to help make them more effective, fair and responsive.
  • Pass along helpful resources for college students such as: Break the Cycle’s College Student’s Guide to Safety Planning.
  • Contact Break the Cycle or visit the website to learn more about how you can make a difference on your campus.
  • Share/Bookmark
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  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Physical Dating Violence Among High School Students – United States, 2003,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, May 19, 2006, Vol. 55, No. 19.
  2. Davis, Antoinette, MPH. 2008. Interpersonal and Physical Dating Violence among Teens. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency Focus. Available at http://www.nccd-rc.org/nccd/pubs/Dating%20Violence%20Among% 20Teens.pdf.
  3. 3Grunbaum JA, Kann L, Kinchen S, et al. 2004. Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance --- United States, 2003. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 53(SS02);1-96. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5302a1.htm.
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  5. D. M. Ackard, Minneapolis, MN, and D. Neumark-Sztainer, Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Date Violence and Date Rape Among Adolescents: Associations with Disordered Eating Behaviors and Psychological Health, Child Abuse & Neglect, 26 455-473, (2002).
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  7. Decker M, Silverman J, Raj A. 2005. Dating Violence and Sexually Transmitted Disease/HIV Testing and Diagnosis Among Adolescent Females. Pediatrics. 116: 272-276.
  8. Veronique Autphenne, Amy Gluckin, & Ellen Iverson, Teen Relationship Abuse: Regional Needs Assessment. Children’s Hospital/Los Angeles, Division of Adolescent Medicine, funded by the California Department of Health Services, Maternal and Child Health Branch/Domestic Violence Section. 2000.
  9. “Women’s Health,” June/July 2004, Family Violence Prevention Fund and Advocates for Youth, http://www.med.umich. edu/whp/newsletters/summer04/p03-dating.html.
  10. Liz Claiborne Inc., Conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited, (February 2005).
  11. Break the Cycle 2009 State-by-State Teen Dating Violence Report Cards. Available at www.breakthecycle.org/ resources-state-law-report-cards-2009.html.
  12. I. Sagatun-Edwards, E. Hyman, et al. The Santa Clara County Juvenile Domestic and Family Violence Court, Journal of the Center for Families, Children & the Courts. 2003.
  13. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice and Statistics, Intimate Partner Violence in the United States, 1993-2004. Dec. 2006.
  14. Rosado, Lourdes, The Pathways to Youth Violence; How Child Maltreatment and Other Risk Factors Lead Children to Chronically Aggressive Behavior. 2000. American Bar Association Juvenile Justice Center.
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  16. Foshee VA, Linder GF, Bauman KE, et al. The Safe Dates Project: theoretical basis, evaluation design, and selected baseline findings. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1996;12(2):39-47.
  17. Liz Claiborne and TRU. 2007. Tech Abuse in Teen Relationships Study. Available at http://www.loveisnotabuse. com/ pdf/06-208%20Tech%20Relationship%20Abuse%20TPL.pdf.
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