OUR WORK & IMPACT

Adolescent Partner and Sexual Violence
Intimate partner violence among adults, specifically male perpetrated violence against their female intimate partners, is a critical threat to public health with well-documented health consequences for women, both in the U.S. and globally. Partner violence among adolescents and young adults has been more recently recognized as a similar and significant public health threat. Girls and younger women between the ages of 16 and 24 experience the highest per capita rates of physical and sexual violence (as high as 40%) than any age group. Partner and sexual violence has been associated with multiple negative physical, sexual, behavioral, and mental health outcomes among girls and young women. Emphasis on young populations is of particular importance in order to inform efforts to prevent the perpetration of such violence – as well as to reduce victimization and its debilitating effects, particularly during adolescent development into adulthood.