Tell your friend that you are concerned for their safety. Let them know that you care and will listen whenever they want to talk.
Never blame or judge your friend for what is happening. Don’t make them feel stupid or ashamed. Your friend doesn’t deserve this and it is NOT their fault.
Be supportive and patient. It may be hard for the person to talk about what is going on, or they may break up and go back to the relationship many times before they finally leave. Don’t criticize your friend for doing this, even if you don’t agree with the choices he or she makes.
Encourage the person to talk to others. Offer to help the person talk to family, friends, a teacher, or a counselor. Offer to get them more information. Use the National Teen Dating Abuse hotline: 1-866-331-9474
Don’t force your friend to make a decision. They have to decide when they are ready to get help or break up. Help them to make s decision for themselves, and know that you can’t do it for them.
Focus on her/his strengths. Your friend has probably continually been told by the abusive person that they are a bad person, a bad student, or a bad friend. Your friend may believe they can’t do anything right. Tell your friend why they are great- build up their confidence!
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- Women's Advocates
- Our shelter is a safe place where battered women and their children can escape domestic violence. The first shelter in the nation for battered women and their children, Women’s Advocates opened its doors in 1974. Women's Advocate’s blog page is intended to be a space to share information about the shelter and the issue of dating violence for friends and fans of Women's Advocates. Women's Advocates, Inc does not endorse, nor take responsibility for, the accuracy of information, opinions, claims, or advice shared here by any individuals. Women's Advocates, Inc encourages users of this page to respect fellow community members, and to understand that Women's Advocates, Inc reserves the right to remove comments that are: • (a) abusive, defamatory, or obscene; • (b) fraudulent, deceptive or misleading; • (c) in violation of any intellectual property right of another; • (d) in violation of any law or regulation; • (e) offensive, graphically or in tone; • (f) self-promotional without relation to current discussion and with appearance of intention to direct traffic to another site, or • (g) posted repeatedly by the user on multiple occasions.
