Despite all the progress made,
many teenaged girls are abused by their boyfriends: (The Age)
Why do 14 per cent of girls say they have had to overcome an attempt at
forced sex? And how can 15 per cent of boys think it is OK to coerce a girl
into sex?
When asked why she would stay with an abusive boyfriend a 16-year-old said:
``It depends how much you love them. Some girls are afraid of losing out,
some girls believe it's a sign of love, some girls cry, others hit back.''
their three-month relationship consisted of ``holding hands at lunchtime
and going to the movies after school''. That was until the boyfriend,
incensed at something the girl had said about him - it was so inconsequential
that Bartlett doesn't remember what - flung her into a parked car and broke
her collarbone. She was 16. ``She has nightmares about that still, and you
just know not to touch her on the shoulders. She won't let you,''
One Aboriginal youth he spoke to had been imprisoned for a violent act
and said he had renounced violence. But when Blagg asked him if he hurt his
girlfriend after she lied to him about some money, he said: ``Oh, no, I
just bitch slapped her.''
Rayner says that in Sweden, where a culture of violence was weakened more
than 20 years ago by banning physical punishment of children, the rate of
child abuse and other physical violence has plummeted.