Key facts and statistics

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33% of girls and 16% of boys reported some form of sexual abuse.
25% of girls (the same proportion as adult women) and 18% of boys reported some form of physical relationship abuse.
Around 75% of girls and 50% of boys reported some form of emotional relationship abuse.
Most commonly reported forms of emotional abuse, irrespective of gender, were ‘being made fun of’ and ‘constantly being checked up on by a partner’.
Girls were more likely than boys to say that the abuse was repeated and that it either remained at the same level of severity, or worsened, especially after the end of the relationship.
Younger participants (aged 13 to 15 years old) were as likely as older adolescents (aged 16 and over) to experience some forms of relationship abuse.
The majority of young people either told a friend or no-one about the violence; only a minority informed an adult.
Risk factors which may increase a teenager’s susceptibility to relationship abuse can include previous experiences of ...

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