Sex Before Violence: Girls, Dating Violence and (Perceived) Sexual Autonomy

Abstract

This article explores the phenomenon of girl violence by examining teen dating violence and girls' experiences with intimate abuse both as victims and as perpetrators. While there is a tendency to view women's experiences as victims of violence as separate and distinct from their experiences as inflictors of violence, the two phenomena are interrelated. A girl's violent victimization can lead her to victimize someone else, just as her own violence can lead her to violent victimization. Indeed, recent research suggests that boys and girls who have been victims of violence are more likely to perpetrate adolescent violence. Moreover, any exposure to violence within an intimate relationship puts a girl at risk of finding herself in the criminal justice system. One factor that may fuel the increase in girl violence is girls' willingness or desire to become sexually involved with boys. While much data suggests that sex and violence coexist in violent dating relationships, the relationship between the two has never been clear. One could assume that boyfriends use violence to initiate a sexual relationship. Recent research on teenage dating violence, however, indicates that violence most often happens after a young couple has consensual sex. Thus, engaging in sexual activity within a dating relationship appears dramatically to increase the risk of physical and sexual violence.