With International Women's Day today, Kid's Help Phone Councillors are trying to bring the subject of Teen Dating Violence into the open.

Councillor Louise Longo says teen dating violence is a very broad topic, but basically includes any unwanted attention a young person receives in their romantic relationship.
"The most obvious thing people think of are sexual advances that aren't welcome, but it can be things such as making threats, making the person feel afraid, putting the person down, embarrassing the person, subtle things like controlling what the person does, and when there's more involvement it can also mean isolating the person by discouraging them from seeing friends and family," Longo explains.

"They are shocking numbers," says Longo when asked about some of the statistics surrounding this issue.

She explains dating violence most commonly impacts young women between the ages of 16 to 24, and approximately 1/3 of high school students have had experiences with dating violence, yet it remains largely a hidden problem because many adolescents do not recognize themselves as either receivers or perpetrators of dating violence.  Many adolescents remain silent about their experiences even when they do recognize there is a problem. She adds between 25% and 50% of Canadian teenage girls experience psychological, physical, or sexual violence in their first romantic relationship, and 30% of high school students who experience dating violence do not tell anyone about it.

Longo says if you notice a young family member dealing with these issues, she says it's important to be very sensitive while communicating with them, because it can be difficult to talk about for them. She adds they also need to know it's not their fault, and family members need to take the situation very seriously and not make light of it.     

For more information on Kids Help Phone, visit their website.