The Teen Survival Guide to Dating & Relating: Real-World Advice on Guys, Girls, Growing Up, and Getting Along

Where

to

turn

108 The Teen Survival Guide to Dating and Relating

6. Does your boyfriend/girlfriend force you to engage in sexual
   intercourse or other kinds of intimate behavior?


7. Do you do any of the above to your boyfriend/girlfriend or
   anyone else?

If you answered yes to any of questions 1–6, you may already be in an abu-

siverelationship. You can take steps to work things out or leave the relationship.

If you answered yes to number 7, you may be an abuser yourself, and you need

to stop this behavior. It’s very hard to do this alone, so you may want to talk to

an adult about getting help.

It’s never okay for anyone to hurt you or for you to hurt anyone else. But

whether you’re an abuser or are being abused, you can learn to make better

choices in the future. The pattern canbe broken. If you think you’re in an abu-

sive relationship or you know someone else who is, you need to:

• talk to a school counselor or other trusted adult,


• call your local YMCA or YWCA to ask about workshops
  on abuse awareness and prevention,


• look under Women’s Services in the Yellow Pages and call an
  organization that offers domestic violence-prevention services, or


• contact one of the organizations in the “Where to Turn” resources below

It will take hard work and persistence to resolve these issues. But it can be

done!

National Domestic Violence Hotline

1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233)

This English/Spanish hotline is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a

week. The people who answer the phone are trained in crisis intervention, and

they can refer you to a teen violence-prevention program in your area. You can

also use this hotline if you have a friend or family member in an abusive rela-

tionship and you want tips on how to talk to this person and offer help.