An increasing number of teenage girls are experiencing physical violence in dating relationships, prompting experts to hold seminars on violence prevention, according to officials of a citizens' group.
DV Boshi Nagasaki, a Nagasaki-based nonprofit group, found in a 2004 survey of 1,332 high school girls in Nagasaki Prefecture that 139 of them had been in abusive relationships.
One-third of those who were in such relationships said they were forced to kiss or have sexual intercourse with their partners, while another third said they were punched or kicked. More than one answer was allowed.
A 16-year-old sophomore at a private high school in Kanagawa Prefecture said a friend was beaten by her boyfriend after she told him she wanted to break up. "Stories like this are common," she said.
Noriko Yamaguchi, from the Tokyo-based group Aware, will speak at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Tokyo Women's Plaza in Shibuya Ward on abusive relationships.
Yamaguchi said that although many victims firmly believe they were beaten because they were to blame, "I want them to understand that the aggressors are at fault 100 percent of the time."