Girls hit at home are more likely to be hit by boyfriends

Teenage girls who are hit by their parents are more likely to experience violence from their boyfriends. A survey of teenage girls in the United Kingdom has found that violence against women by a partner can start at a young age.

Sixteen per cent of teenage girls have been hit at least once by their boyfriend, and for 4% the violence is recurring. Of those attacked, more than two thirds remained with their boyfriend and one fifth ignored the abuse altogether. Boyfriends had raped 6% of respondents. A third (31%) thought that cheating justifies the violence, and nearly half (43%) thought that aggression toward them is acceptable and would give the boy a second chance.

A fifth of the girls had been hit by their parents, and 11% had seen their parents hit each other. Half of parents who hit each other hit their children. More than half the girls