{"id":57060,"date":"2023-03-15T15:22:23","date_gmt":"2023-03-15T22:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=57060"},"modified":"2023-03-15T15:22:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T22:22:23","slug":"asian-teens-say-dating-violence-a-taboo-topic-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=57060","title":{"rendered":"Asian Teens Say Dating Violence a Taboo Topic at Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By<\/span>Julia Tong<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Culture and language are among the barriers that prevent many Asian American teens from openly discussing dating violence with their parents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When Angela Kim first fell in love at 16, teen dating violence was the last thing on her mind. Her boyfriend showered her with love, and she was infatuated with their whirlwind romance.<\/p>\n

But then, she recalls, things suddenly started to change: Insults, manipulation tactics, and eventually physical violence escalated into a three-year-long abusive relationship.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these compliments started to turn into insults. And all of the great times we had together were now being overshadowed by his violent bursts of anger,\u201d she recalls. \u201cThe signs of abuse, the signs of my relationship being unhealthy, were pretty quick in the relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim is not alone, nor are her experiences unique. According to\u00a0Youth<\/a>.gov, 69.5% of women, and 54% of men, reported experiencing intimate partner violence before the age of 24. As many as 76% of teens reported experiencing emotional and psychological abuse in relationships.<\/p>\n

Today, Kim is turning her \u201cpain into passion,\u201d devoting her professional life to domestic violence prevention work at the LA County Department of Public Health and other community organizations. Many people she talks to, she says, do not understand the nature of abuse, and how abusers are able to keep victims under their control.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard questions like: \u2018How do you stay with someone who hurts you like that?\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cAnd my response has always been, an abuser is so incredibly good at changing your logic to the point where your reality is not your own anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Per activists, extensive social media usage amongst teens creates unrealistic pictures of what a \u2018perfect\u2019 romance is, and enables some manipulation tactics\u2014such as forcing the victim to unfollow all other people of the same gender. Pop culture frequently romanticizes violence in films like\u00a0365<\/em>\u00a0Days<\/em>. Depictions of domestic violence are limited\u2014often to White adult women suffering physical abuse\u2014preventing teens from recognizing signs of abuse in their own lives. And most schools have minimal courses teaching students red and green flags in relationships, signs of abuse, and consent.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s a reason why coercion, intimidation, degradation all work in tandem\u2026 in an abusive relationship\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

AsAmNews spoke to advocates and experts, including those on an\u00a0Ethnic Media Services panel<\/a>\u00a0featuring youth activists, to understand teen dating violence in the Asian American community, its signs, and how to ultimately prevent it.<\/p>\n

These signs of abusive relationships are often not discussed in families or taught to youth, preventing victims from even recognizing that their relationship is abusive. And many other factors impact the prevalence of dating violence in teens specifically.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic only worsened these existing issues. Armaan Sharma, a student activist from Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments (SAVE), observed that quarantine and isolation caused major increases in mental health issues and social media usage in teens, which changed the ways dating violence manifests.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as COVID has been evolving with all its new variants, teen dating violence has as well,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe scrambled for a vaccine, so we should be scrambling for more prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n

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