III 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 32 

Designating the month of February 2011 as ‘‘National Teen Dating Violence 

Awareness and Prevention Month’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 27, 2011 

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

resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Designating the month of February 2011 as ‘‘National Teen 

Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month’’. 

Whereas while dating, domestic, and sexual violence and 

stalking affect women regardless of age, teens and young 

women are especially vulnerable; 

Whereas according to Liz Claiborne’s 2009 Parent/Teen Dating Violence Poll, 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 far exceeds victimization rates for other types of violence affecting youth; 

Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention, 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; 


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•SRES 32 ATS 

Whereas according to the American Journal of Public Health, 

more than 1 in 4 teenagers have been in a relationship 

where a partner is verbally abusive; 

Whereas according to a Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, 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 violent relationships in adolescence can have serious 

ramifications for victims, putting such 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 twice as likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease; 

Whereas nearly 3 in 4 ‘‘tweens’’, individuals who are between 

the ages of 11 and 14, report 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 that their friends are victims of 

dating violence, and nearly half 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 according to Liz Claiborne’s 2009 Parent/Teen Dating Violence Poll, although 82 percent of parents are confident that they could recognize the signs if their child 


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was experiencing dating abuse, a majority of parents (58 

percent) could not correctly identify all 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 digital abuse and ‘‘sexting’’, or sending or receiving 

nude pictures of other young people on a cellphone or on 

the Internet, is becoming a new frontier for teen dating 

abuse; 

Whereas according to a National Crime Prevention Council 

survey, 43 percent of middle and high school students reported experiencing cyberbullying 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 cellphones and texting; 

Whereas according to a survey by The National Campaign, 

more than half of teen girls say pressure from a boy is 

a reason girls send suggestive messages or images, while 

only 18 percent of teen boys say pressure from a girl is 

a reason for such behavior, and 12 percent of teen girls 

who have sent suggestive messages or images say they 

felt ‘‘pressured’’ to do so; 

Whereas according to a 2009 survey by Cox Communications, 

19 percent of teens revealed that they had been harassed, 

embarrassed, or threatened online or by text message; 

Whereas 3 in 10 young people have ‘‘sexted’’, and 61 percent 

of young people who have ‘‘sexted’’ report being pressured to do so at least once; 

Whereas targets of digital abuse are almost 3 times more 

likely to contemplate suicide as those who have not enVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:08 Jan 28, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR32.ATS SR32

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countered digital abuse, and targets of digital abuse are 

nearly 3 times more likely to have considered dropping 

out of school; 

Whereas according to Liz Claiborne’s 2010 College Dating 

Violence and Abuse Poll, 63 percent of college students 

report having a college friend who experienced violent 

and abusive dating behavior; 

Whereas according to Liz Claiborne’s 2010 College Dating 

Violence and Abuse Poll, 41 percent of dating college students report experiencing violent and abusive dating behaviors; 

Whereas 65 percent of college students who were in an abusive relationship failed to realize that they were in an 

abusive relationship, and 53 percent of such students 

said that no one helped them; 

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 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— 


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1 (1) designates the month of February 2011 as 

2 ‘‘National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Pre3 vention Month’’; 

4 (2) supports communities in empowering teens 

5 to develop healthier relationships throughout their 

6 lives; and 

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

8 including youth, parents, schools, law enforcement, 

9 State and local officials, and interested groups to ob10 serve National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and 

11 Prevention Month with appropriate programs and 

12 activities that promote awareness and prevention of 

13 teen dating violence in their communities. 

Æ 


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