Youth Endowment Fund, Children, violence and vulnerability 2025: Violence in relationships
This second report published by the Youth Endowment Fund (‘YEF’) presents survey evidence on how common violence is in relationships among 13- to 17-year-olds in England and Wales – exploring emotional, physical and sexual abuse in teen relationships, the emotional impact of such abuse, how the abusive behaviours teens perpetrate in their relationships relate to what they have experienced as victims, who is most likely to be affected, and teens’ views on consent and sexual harassment.
Details
Key findings of the survey are summarised below:
- Two in five teens in relationships (39%) have experienced some form of emotional or physical abuse – the equivalent of over one in ten of all teenagers across England and Wales.
- Most teens who had experienced abusive behaviours (76%) said it had affected their day-to-day lives – from feeling anxious, low or bad about themselves (40%), to struggling to sleep, eat and concentrate (39%). More than a third (34%) said it had strained their relationships with their friends or family, and over one in five (22%) had avoided school or college because of something that had happened with a partner.
- It is common for both girls and boys: although girls were slightly more likely to receive emotional or physical abuse from a partner than boys, the difference was small (41% of girls compared to 37% of boys).
- In some areas, the impact was felt more strongly by girls.
- The types of abusive experiences differed by gender. Girls were more likely to say their partner had made them feel they could not leave, made them afraid to disagree, criticised their appearance or pressured them into sex. Boys, meanwhile, were more likely to report having explicit images of themselves posted online.
- Differences also appeared when teens reflected on their own behaviour towards their partners. Girls were more likely to admit checking their partner’s phone and social media and tracking their location. Boys were more likely to report trying to control who their partner saw, making their partner afraid to disagree, criticising their partner’s appearance, pressuring their partner into sex or posting explicit images of their partner.
- Teens who view sexual aggression as acceptable are more likely to commit relationship abuse: most 13-17-year-olds rejected harmful attitudes (86% said it was never OK to press someone into dating or sex when they have already said no).
- Exposure to harmful content online was associated with more permissive attitudes and behaviours.
- Abuse at home is also associated with children’s views and behaviours outside the home: children who have experienced or witnessed abuse in their family are more likely to be victims of abuse in their own relationships and to perpetrate it themselves.
Commentary
For youth justice services and lawyers, the report highlights the prevalence of relationship abuse among children and its significant impact on wellbeing, education and peer relationships. The clear links between exposure to violence at home, harmful online content and abusive behaviour in relationships reinforce the need for safeguarding-led, child-first responses and early, proportionate intervention to avoid unnecessary criminalisation.
The findings also show gendered patterns, with girls experiencing greater emotional harm and boys more likely to hold permissive views towards sexual aggression. Practitioners should ensure assessments and advocacy reflect these dynamics, with a focus on trauma-informed practice, healthy relationship education and preventing both victimisation and offending.