Hrovat+Abusive+Relationships

** Startling and informative opening ** In July of 2004, a mother was attacked by a man she had known since junior high. They dated for a while, but after they broke up, he began to stalk her. One night he saw another man escort her home and exploded in a jealous rage. He broke many bones in her face and stabbed her with a kitchen knife. The commotion woke up her 9 year old daughter, who soon called 911. When the rescue team found her mother, they thought she was a redhead, instead of a blonde, because her hair was saturated with blood. Although you may not know it, tragedies like this are happening all the time. Some people think it’s just a part of love to get in fights, but in reality, domestic violence is an extremely dangerous and unhealthy thing to go through.
 * Research Paper Quick Check **

Is dating violence a serious problem? Yes! Even though we don't hear about it a lot, dating violence is a crime and many people die from it.
 * Quick summary of main question that I mean to answer or reason I think this topic is important **
 * Two or three most interesting things I learned from research **
 * Last year, a survey was sent out for children ages 11-14 by Liz Claiborne Inc. in which a quarter of the 1000 respondents said that they were emotionally abused (called names, ridiculed, harassed) by their romantic partners. Often they reported this between midnight and 5 am, when their parents were sleeping.
 *  A 1997-99 survey of 4,163 girls revealed that if you are abused, you are 8-9 times more likely to attempt suicide, 4-6 times more likely to get pregnant , 3-5 times more likely to do cocaine , and 3-4 times more likely to become bulimic or anorexic.

A common stereotype is that abuse victims are married women with young children; but in reality they can be anyone: teenagers and spouses, boys and girls , etc.
 * Confirmation or rejection of one or two commonly held beliefs about this topic **

** Something to connect the topic to the reader's life so that he/she will care **  1 in every 5 girls will experience some sort of abusive relationship in high school.

** A closing surprise...intriguing fact, quotation, or discovery from my own research ** Denise K. Gosselin said, “All women are more likely to be hurt or killed in domestic violence than in car accidents, rapes , and muggings combined .”

FAQs about Abusive Relationships back to 8th Grade AT LA 1-2