III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 373 

Designating the month of February 2010 as ‘‘National Teen Dating Violence 

Awareness and Prevention Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2009 

Mr. CRAPO (for himself and Mr. LIEBERMAN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Designating the month of February 2010 as ‘‘National Teen 

Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month’’. 

Whereas dating, domestic, and sexual violence affect women 

regardless of their age, and teens and young women are 

especially vulnerable; 

Whereas, approximately 1 in 3 adolescent girls in the United 

States is a victim of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse 

from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds victimization rates for other types of violence affecting youth; 

Whereas nationwide, 1 in 10 high school students (9.9 percent) has been hit, slapped, or physically hurt on purpose 

by a boyfriend or girlfriend; 

Whereas more than 1 in 4 teenagers have been in a relationship where a partner is verbally abusive; 


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•SRES 373 IS 

Whereas 20 percent of teen girls exposed to physical dating 

violence did not attend school because the teen girls felt 

unsafe either at school, or on the way to or from school, 

on 1 or more occasions in a 30-day period; 

Whereas violent relationships in adolescence can have serious 

ramifications for victims by putting the victims at higher 

risk for substance abuse, eating disorders, risky sexual 

behavior, suicide, and adult revictimization; 

Whereas being physically and sexually abused leaves teen 

girls up to 6 times more likely to become pregnant and 

more than 2 times as likely to report a sexually transmitted disease; 

Whereas nearly 3 in 4 children ages 11 to 14 (referred to in 

this preamble as ‘‘tweens’’), say that dating relationships 

usually begin at age 14 or younger and about 72 percent 

of eighth and ninth graders report ‘‘dating’’; 

Whereas 1 in 5 tweens say their friends are victims of dating 

violence and nearly 1⁄2 of tweens who are in relationships 

know friends who are verbally abused; 

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 teen dating abuse most often takes place in the 

home of 1 of the partners; 

Whereas a majority of parents surveyed believe they have had 

a conversation with their teen about what it means to be 

in a healthy relationship, but the majority of teens surveyed said that they have not had a conversation about 

dating abuse with a parent in the past year; 

Whereas digital abuse and ‘‘sexting’’ is becoming a new frontier for teen dating abuse; 


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•SRES 373 IS 

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

called names, harassed, or put down by their partner 

through cellphones and texting; 

Whereas 3 in 10 young people have sent or received nude pictures of other young people on their cell or online, and 

61 percent who have ‘‘sexted’’ report being pressured to 

do so at least once; 

Whereas targets of digital abuse are almost 3 times as likely 

to contemplate suicide as those who haven not encountered such abuse (8 percent vs. 3 percent), and targets 

of digital abuse are nearly 3 times more likely to have 

considered dropping out of school; 

Whereas the severity of violence among intimate partners has 

been shown to be greater in cases where the pattern of 

violence has been established in adolescence; 

Whereas primary prevention programs are a key part of addressing teen dating violence and many successful community examples include education, community outreach, 

and social marketing campaigns that also understand the 

cultural appropriateness of programs; 

Whereas skilled assessment and intervention programs are 

also necessary for youth victims and abusers; and 

Whereas the establishment of 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 Senate— 

2 (1) designates the month of February 2010, as 

3 ‘‘National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Pre4 vention Month’’; 


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•SRES 373 IS 

1 (2) supports communities to empower teens to 

2 develop healthier relationships; and 

3 (3) calls upon the people of the United States, 

4 including youth and parents, schools, law enforce5 ment, State and local officials, and interested groups 

6 to observe National Teen Dating Violence Awareness 

7 and Prevention Month with appropriate programs 

8 and activities that promote awareness and preven9 tion of the crime of teen dating violence in their 

10 communities. 

Æ 


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