Safety, Violence, and Abuse (From Improving the Health of Adolescent Girls, P 26-35, 1999, Jane E. Meyer, Joan M. Leiman, et. al., -- See NCJ-176713)

• NCJ Number: 176714
• Author(s): J E Meyer; J M Leiman; N Rothschild; M Falik
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 10 pages
• Corporate Author: Commonwealth Fund Cmssn on Women's Health
• Sale Source: Commonwealth Fund Cmssn on Women's Health
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

After presenting findings from a Commonwealth Fund survey regarding safety and violence in schools and communities, as well as juvenile physical and sexual abuse, this chapter discusses the consequences of violence and abuse as well as opportunities to address them.

Abstract

Twenty percent of adolescent girls and boys in the 1997 Commonwealth Fund Survey of the Health of Adolescent Girls said they felt unsafe at school. Girls were more likely than boys (20 percent vs. 16 percent) to say they have felt unsafe in their neighborhoods. The survey found that 17 percent of high school girls said they had been physically abused, and 12 percent reported they had been sexually abused; 9 percent of younger girls (5-8 years old) said they had been physically abused, and 7 percent said they had been sexually abused. Dating violence was also found to be a significant problem for both girls and boys, but more so for girls. Violence-related injuries are one of the principal causes of death among adolescents. Older adolescent girls are three times more likely than younger adolescent girls to die from violence-related injuries. Women who were abused in childhood or adolescence are more likely to suffer episodic or chronic depression, posttraumatic stress syndrome, other mental disorders, and partner abuse as an adult. Teachers, parents, health care professionals, and other caring adults have opportunities to reach out to vulnerable girls and boys, offering them places where they can go for assistance and creating places where they can feel and be safe.