Exposing teen relationship abuse

By the time you finish reading this sentence, a woman somewhere will have been abused. And there's a chance she could be a teenage girl. Teen dating violence does not exist in specific neighborhoods or cultures.

It's not gender-exclusive. MTV's "Teen Mom" star Amber Portwood often verbally abused her child's father, Gary Shirley, long before she punched him in front of their baby. One in five high school students report being abused or sexually assaulted by their partner - 1.5 million annually.

High school students from Blue Valley Northwest, Olathe North and Olathe Northwest in Kansas City are working with domestic violence shelter Safehome to produce "The Outrage," an educational performance piece that addresses dating violence and sexual assault among teens. It pushes its audiences to take a stand.

The students wear black shirts and make a visual statement through stark statistics and severe dating scenarios. When they tell you outrage is in this room, they are speaking the truth. Of the eight students performing, half of them have either been in an abusive relationship or they know someone who has.

"People like to pretend it doesn't happen in Johnson County, but it so does," says Allison Basinger, the education and prevention advocate for Safehome and the creator of the play. It happens everywhere.

The group performs for middle schools, high schools, parenting groups and churches. At almost every performance for students, a kid comes forward to disclose abuse. According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigations, 20.7 percent of sexual violence victims are between 10 and 14 years old and 25.8 percent are 15 to 19.

February, known as the month of love, is also Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. Trent Fleener, 17-year-old junior and member of the performance troupe, says too many people are unaware of the facts. "It's a serious issue," he says. "And people don't know it. They don't know these statistics. I joined the group because it's too big of a deal not to take a stand."

Another performer, Sarah Cohen, says she was in an abusive relationship. She says one of the biggest challenges students face is they don't know whom to talk to or how to get out of it. "It's important to recognize the signs and walk away," says Sarah, 16, a sophomore at Blue Valley Northwest. "Performing has given me the confidence to help myself and help others, too."

The "Outrage" actors are trained to talk to peers about relationship violence. Priyanka Rao says performing has been an eye-opener. She walks down the halls at school and hears name-calling and sees pushing among couples. Some people think it's harmless. She sees red flags.

"I think if you turn that up to the next level, it could lead to dating violence. You want to stop it before it goes there. A lot of times students do things because they want to be cool.

"That's one of the biggest issues, defining what's cool. You shouldn't have to compromise your morals and your ethics to be cool. Speaking out, that is cool."Priyanka is right about the importance of prevention. And Allison Basinger says these early relationships can easily develop into a lifelong cycle if we don't begin to have conversations and end the violence.

"If you're in an abusive relationship in middle school, the pattern of behavior is likely to continue in high school and so on. Teen dating violence is domestic violence that hasn't grown up yet," she says. TEEN DATING VIOLENCE: If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, there are lots of resources to help.