LatinaLista — Young love can be a beautiful experience — unless one person in the relationship is an abuser. And even then, according to a new Mary Kay study, teens would rather suffer abuse in the name of “love” rather than call it quits.
In the 2014 Mary Kay Truth About Abuse Survey, 500 young men and women anonymously shared their stories of staying in abusive relationships. The findings are part of the Mary Kay’s “Don’t Look Away” educational awareness campaign and reflect an all too-familiar pattern of behavior of relationship abuse victims — love means don’t tell.
Forty percent of ages 18-24 didn’t tell anyone about the abuse happening in their relationships and 57 percent stayed silent for at least six months. The most common form of abuse reported was emotional abuse (73 percent); followed by physical abuse (29 percent); sexual abuse (22 percent) and digital abuse (19 percent).
The goal of the survey, a joint project by Mary Kay and Loveisrespect.org, was to find out how long young adults and teens stay in abusive relationships and which abuse those who finally reached out were suffering.
“It’s extremely alarming to learn that 73 percent of teens and young adults have experienced emotional abuse in a relationship and most are waiting six months or more to seek help or support,” said Crayton Webb, vice president of corporate communications and corporate cocial responsibility for Mary Kay Inc. “We need to prevent and ultimately end dating abuse by making sure young people know where and how they can get help before relationships become unhealthy and potentially violent.”
One source for help that is literally at every young person’s fingertips is Loveisrespect’s text-based helpline. Texting “loveis” to 22522, callers are connected to trained peer advocates who can supply support, safety tips and referrals for additional help.
