Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month is observed every February to raise awareness about the prevalence of violence in teen relationships and to encourage communities to take action to prevent it. It is a crucial time to educate young people about healthy relationships and empower them to recognize and seek help in cases of abuse.
Recent Statistics on Teen Dating Violence
While in-roads have been achieved, the prevalence of teen dating violence locally remains an important public health issue. As listed the 2019 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey for high school respondents, 11.6% of Miami-Dade County’s youth have experienced sexual violence, including kissing, touching or being physically forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to one or more times during the 12 months before the survey, compared to 10.8% in the State of Florida. Another result from the same study shows that 8.3% dated or went out with someone during the 12 months before the survey and experienced physical dating violence one or more times during the 12 months before the survey, with dating violence defined as being physically hurt on purpose (including being hit, slammed into something, or injured with an object or weapon).
Of Florida’s 67 counties, Miami-Dade County ranks second reporting 8,160 domestic violence offenses in 2019 resulting in 4,188 arrests. Home to over 2.7 million people, Miami-Dade is Florida’s most ethnically and racially diverse county (65% Hispanic or Latino, 17.1% Black and 15.45 White non-Hispanic). With a population of 52.4% foreign born, ancestry groups include Cubans, South Americans, Caribbean Islanders, and Europeans.
While the overall poverty rate is 15.7%, Miami’s income inequality, the second highest in the nation, is reflected through poverty levels exceeding 30% among marginalized groups, especially amongst Miami-Dade’s immigrant populations. Studies have shown that adolescents from minority groups, single-parent households, and homes in which parents have lower levels of education report more physical teen dating violence that is either moderate to severe. Over 55% of Miami-Dade’s households are single parent as compared to 38.3% in the U.S. and 46.8% in Florida. Additionally, a mere 30.7% of the population has a Bachelor’s degree or higher. Furthermore, Miami-Dade’s ethnically and racially diverse population is a contributing factor to its domestic violence arrest rate increase of 5% from 2018 to 2019.
Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on domestic violence.
Juxtaposed to this 2019 increase in perpetrator accountability, an October 2020 news report highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic violence cases filed in local civil court, dropping by more than half. For Judge Carroll Kelly, Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida Domestic Violence Division, the concern is real, stating that domestic violence is “probably increasing due to all the factors that contribute to [it]. People being home, people losing their jobs, drugs and alcohol, children around constantly, no relief, no help.” The Domestic Violence Division is placing special emphasis on partnering with local organizations to provide additional outreach, advocacy, and support.
Efforts to mitigate teen dating violence and encourage healthy relationships among youth.
Be Strong International, Inc. (BSI) is at the forefront in Miami-Dade County in advocating for healthy relationships among middle and high school youth ages 11 to 19. Primarily serving the Miami-Dade County Public School (M-DCPS) system, the fourth largest school district in the nation, BSI envisions an environment where children progress through their adolescent years marked by healthy relationships that support their social-emotional growth. For over 30 years, the organization has cultivated a dialogue supporting healthy relationship building skills amongst Miami-Dade County’s diverse racial and ethnic populations, possessing the experience and earning the respect of multiple governmental entities and officials and institutions that support education of youth and well-being of the family.
For more information about our youth programs, visit our Programs page and explore all the programs offered in our Youth Division. For donations and support to continue these programs, please click here.
Other resources:
— Tea Consent video: (10) Tea Consent – YouTube A great metaphor and easily teachable lesson to audience of all ages.
— A domestic violence center based in Pennsylvania created this bank of healthy dating resources geared towards young people, including topics like red flags in relationships, the spectrum of healthy to unhealthy relationships, technology and dating, and more. There are also quizzes and games for users to complete that pair with the subject matter.
— We Think Twice, a campaign made by teens for teens, has assembled resources on dating and relationships, importantly including friendship relationships in the discussion. The site includes lists, videos, quizzes, checklists, and even content for trusted adults.
— The CDC has developed a dating violence prevention model called Dating Matters that promotes healthy relationship skills and dating risk reduction.
— The University of Colorado wrote a list of three dating “hacks”, essentially healthy rules of thumb for young people to explore when considering relationships. It is followed by a list of relevant resources to this topic.
