New Survey Finds 43% Of Dating College Women Have Experienced Abusive Dating Behaviors

CAEPV Member Liz Claiborne Inc has revealed the findings of their recent study of dating abuse among college students. The results? Dating violence and abuse is more prevalent on college campuses than previously believed.

The survey, “Liz Claiborne Inc.’s Love Is Not Abuse 2011 College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll,” was conducted by Knowledge Networks to address the lack of data on dating violence and abuse among college students. Knowledge Networks interviewed 508 college students including 330 women and 178 men for the study.

According to the findings, a significant number of college women are victims of dating violence.

• 43% of dating college women report experiencing abusive dating behaviors including physical, sexual, tech, verbal or controlling abuse.
• Nearly 1 in 3 (29%) college women say they have been in an abusive dating relationship.
• More than half (57%) of college students who report experiencing dating violence said it occurred in college.

The results also show that college students generally do not know how to help their friends, or themselves, get out of abusive relationships.

• 58% of college students say they don’t know how to help someone who is a victim of dating abuse.
• 38% of college students say they don’t know how to get help for themselves if they were a victim of dating violence.

While many of the controlling behaviors overlap between high school and college students, other behaviors are specific to college students. For example, 11% of respondents were prevented from going to study groups, 8% were told whether to live on or off campus and 7% were told exactly which classes to take.

Our friends at  Love Is Respect and Break the Cycle have joined together to college students - and those who care about them - the tools needed to identify college dating abuse and address it.

On the website of Love Is Respect – the National Dating Abuse Helpline they’ve added a brand new section to arm students with knowledge.  You can locate it at http://www.loveisrespect.org/LC_study_pdfs/SafetyPlan_College_Students.pdf

College students - you can download the Liz Claiborne Inc. study, plan your safety, find info for helping a friend and brainstorm ideas to end violence at your school. We encourage you to download and spread these documents around your campus.

Teachers and parents — are you looking for a way to teach dating abuse info to your college students? The Love Is Not Abuse college curriculum is available online, free at www.loveisnotabuse.com/web/guest/curriculum.

Still have questions? You can call Love Is Respect – National Dating Abuse Helpline anytime at 1-866-331-9474.