On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During one year, this equates to more than 10 million women and men. People often assume physical violence when they hear about abuse, but that’s not always the case. Dating abuse is a pattern of behaviors used to gain or maintain power and control over a partner — physical violence is just one example of such behavior.

Remember: no one deserves to experience abuse in any capacity and every type of abuse is serious.