Abuse grips younger demographic

Ever since Candace was 5 years old she watched her father severely beat her mother. So when her boyfriend started to lay his hands on her when she was 17, she didn't think much of it. 

"I felt like it was normal because my mom put up with it," Candace said.

After years of bruises and busted eyes, Candace, not her real name, escaped for the last time and currently remains hidden at a local abuse shelter with her four children.

"My eyes are open, so I don't plan to go back for nothing," she said. "It takes hitting rock bottom."

She said her abuser also learned violence at a young age - his father abused his mother. This young couple is not alone.

The Crisis Center's Angel House Executive Director Renee Morris said the fact that abuse is now gripping a younger demographic really struck home when she saw that the Texas Statutes Family Code added "dating violence" to the list of definitions under Protective Orders and Family Violence.

"What that says to me is family violence starts at a younger age," she said.

She noticed the women seeking help at her abuse shelter are younger than ever before.  Morris said it's not uncommon for a 22-year-old to come into the shelter with two or three children on her arm.  

"Ages 16-24 are at most risk for intimate violence," Morris said. She said those recent statistics triple the national average.

"Those numbers blew me out of the water," she said.

Morris said it was time to do something about it, so she targeted ECISD to start prevention through forms of education.

She used October as a palette to take the issue to area high schools because it was Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Morris presented Power Point slides on teen dating, violence and rape all day as young men and women absorbed the material.

She said younger girls mistake jealousy and control with love. When she told a classroom of girls that one day, Morris said many of them said, "Oh yeah, I guess you're right."

Candace started putting up with the control and abuse at a young age for many of the same reasons. She said the first few years were bliss, and they were in love.

"He was a sweet guy. I was his princess. We were number one," she said.

All of the signs of control were there, but were all too familiar because of her upbringing. By time the abuse started, she was 17 years old, too deep in love and already had two children with him. She wasn't allowed to leave the house. She wasn't even allowed to take a shower until he got home.

"He kept me pregnant all the time," she said of his control methods.

Candace said he liked to go for her face, but she said she was afraid to go to the doctor because she didn't want him to get in trouble.

Morris attributes violence gripping a younger demographic to children witnessing violence in their home.

"What we see when they come into the shelter they are mimicking at 5 or 10 years old," she said. "We live in such a violent society and are so susceptible."

The Crisis Center isn't the only organization increasing awareness - ECISD has worked teen violence awareness into their curriculum as well, Wayne Wallace, student assistant services lead counselor, said. He said Internet access, TV and video games have impacted how children behave over the years.

OHS vice principle Charlie Quintela said he sees a lot of abuse cases go through his school.

"We've undertaken that new dimension to educate them on what to look for because they are used to a certain cycle. They're not sure what it is, and it's not right, but they are in a abusive relationship, and we educate them so they realize this is not the norm," Quintela said.

"The kids we are teaching today are not the same kids we were teaching five years ago," Wallace said.

TEEN DATING STATISTICS

>> About one in three high school students have been or will be involved in an abusive relationship.

>> Forty percent of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 say they know someone their age that has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.

>> A survey of 500 young women, ages 15 to 24, found that 60 percent were currently involved in an ongoing abusive relationship and all participants had experienced violence in a dating relationship.

>> One study found that 38 percent of date rape victims were young women from 14 to 17 years of age.

>> In 2005, about seven in 10 female rape or sexual assault victims stated the offender was an intimate, other relative, a friend or an acquaintance.

>> Almost two-thirds of the rapes and sexual assaults occurred at night from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Source: http://www.acadv.org/dating.html

CRISIS CENTER LOSES GRANT

>> The Crisis Center lost a $207,000 Victims of Crime Act grant this year, which fully funded its abuse shelter, The Angel House. Similar local agencies like the Safe Place lost the same grant last year. In 2002 the Permian Basin received $1.4 million in VOCA grants, and this year the area received $278,000.

>> If you would like to contribute to its Operation Save Angel House campaign, contact The Crisis Center at P.O. Box 7741, Odessa.