In Portugal, a study has found that more than 50 per cent of young adults have been victims of dating violence.

Dating violence is still a fairly common phenomenon among young adults. The warning signs can be subtle and difficult to recognise as they are often mistaken for romance or love.

What are the signs to look out for?

• Surveillance behaviour: Checking your partner's mobile phone and social networks without permission, using the internet to check their location and calling them several times a day to find out what they're doing.

• Controlling behaviour: Restricting social contact with friends or family, making decisions for them, telling them how to dress and restricting their ability to study or work.

• Humiliating behaviours: Making negative comments about their body, constantly insulting them, lowering their self-esteem with constant comments about failure, threatening to share embarrassing photos of their partner.

• Threatening and aggressive behaviour: Threatening their partner's property, intimidating them with their eyes, pressuring them into sexual activity, shouting, having an explosive temper and being cruel to animals.

• Jealous and possessive behaviour: Accusing their partner of cheating or not loving them, being extremely jealous and possessive.

Find out more at…

Kearney, M. S., & O'Brien, K. M. (2018). Is it love or is it control? Assessing warning signs of dating violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 33(18), 2820–2847. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518805105

Neves, S., Correia, A., & Borges, J. (2023). Gender beliefs and dating violence practices among university students in Portugal. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2023.2267615