IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 93 

Expressing support for designation of the month of February 2013 as 

‘‘National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2013 

Mr. LEWIS (for himself and Ms. MOORE) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for designation of the month of February 

2013 as ‘‘National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and 

Prevention Month’’. 

Whereas while dating violence, domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking affect women regardless of age, teens 

and young women are especially vulnerable; 

Whereas according to a National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence survey by the Centers for Disease Control 

and Prevention (CDC), the majority of victimization 

starts early in life as most rape and intimate partner violence is first experienced before age 24; 

Whereas in 2008, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency reported that approximately 1 in 3 adolescent 

girls in the United States is a victim of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a rate that 


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far exceeds victimization rates for other types of violence 

affecting youth; 

Whereas according to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance 

System (YRBSS) of the CDC, nearly 10 percent of high 

school students have been hit, slapped, or physically hurt 

on purpose by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past year; 

Whereas a 2012 study as part of an independent evaluation 

of Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships, an 

initiative aimed at building healthy relationships among 

middle school youth, finds teen dating violence behaviors 

common even among 7th-grade students with nearly one 

in six reporting physical dating violence; 

Whereas according to data from the YRBSS, almost 20 percent of teen girls who were exposed to physical dating violence did not attend school on 1 or more occasions during the past 30 days due to feeling unsafe at school or 

on the way to or from school; 

Whereas schools are unequipped to handle the issue, as a recent study by Ball State University found that 81 percent of school counselors reported that they did not have 

a school protocol on how to respond to an incident of 

teen dating violence but 61 percent reported that they 

had assisted victims of dating-related violence in the past 

2 years, despite a lack of formal training for some of the 

counselors; 

Whereas a study published in Pediatrics suggests that teen 

dating violence ‘‘is a substantial public health problem’’ 

as victims of teen dating violence are at increased risk of 

mood and behavior problems as young adults, and at increased risk for future violent relationships; 


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Whereas girls victimized by a teen boyfriend reported more 

heavy drinking, smoking, depression, and thoughts of suicide, and teens of both sexes who were in aggressive relationships were 2 to 3 times more likely to be in violent 

relationships as young adults; 

Whereas being physically and sexually abused leaves teen 

girls up to 6 times more likely to become pregnant and 

more than twice as likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease; 

Whereas more than 3 times as many tweens (20 percent) as 

parents of tweens (6 percent) admit that parents know 

little or nothing about the dating relationships of tweens; 

Whereas according to the 2009 Parent/Teen Dating Violence 

Poll by Liz Claiborne Inc., although 82 percent of parents are confident that they could recognize the signs if 

their child was experiencing dating abuse, 58 percent of 

parents could not correctly identify all of the warning 

signs of abuse; 

Whereas 74 percent of teenage boys and 66 percent of teenage girls say that they have not had a conversation with 

a parent about dating abuse in the past year; 

Whereas 1 in 4 teens in a relationship say that they have 

been called names, harassed, or put down by their partner through telephones and texting; 

Whereas according to the 2010 College Dating Violence and 

Abuse Poll by Liz Claiborne Inc., 43 percent of college 

women who date report experiencing abusive dating behaviors; 

Whereas 70 percent of college students who were in an abusive relationship failed to realize that they were in an 

abusive relationship, and 60 percent of such students 


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said that no one stepped in to help them when they were 

in an abusive relationship; 

Whereas the severity of violence among intimate partners has 

been shown to be greater in cases where the pattern of 

violence was established in adolescence; 

Whereas primary prevention programs are a key part of addressing teen dating violence, and many successful examples of such programs include education, community outreach, and social marketing campaigns that are culturally 

appropriate; 

Whereas educating middle school students and their parents 

about the importance of building healthy relationships 

and preventing teen dating violence is key to deterring 

abuse before it begins; 

Whereas skilled assessment and intervention programs are 

necessary for youth victims and abusers; and 

Whereas the establishment of the month of February 2013 

as National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month will benefit schools, communities, and families 

regardless of socioeconomic status, race, or sex: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the designation ‘‘National Teen 

3 Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month’’; 

4 (2) supports communities in empowering teens 

5 to develop healthy relationships throughout their 

6 lives; and 

7 (3) calls on the people of the United States, in8 cluding youth, parents, schools, law enforcement, 


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1 State and local officials, and interested groups to ob2 serve National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and 

3 Prevention Month with appropriate programs and 

4 activities that promote awareness and prevention of 

5 teen dating violence in their communities. 

Æ 


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