College Consortium: Promoting Healthy Relationships on College Campuses

by Tehan Dukaye, Sexual Violence Prevention Coordinator 

Many of us work to build loving and mutually respectful partnerships throughout life. Whether it’s forming strong friendships or romantic relationships, creating and keeping personal connections is rewarding. While most people form different types of relationships, not all relationships are healthy. As we enter Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, it is important to remember that teens and young adults, including college students, need information on healthy relationships and what to do if an unhealthy relationship turns abusive. This is also true for students on college campuses. 

Going to college can be one of the first major milestones in a young adult's life. Students are exposed to a new environment, meeting different people, forming personal bonds, and experiencing the transition into adulthood. These early years of adulthood, may also be the time where many will enter their first romantic relationship. Despite many of the positives that come with being in a relationship, there is also a risk of experiencing abuse, such as verbal, sexual, physical, psychological, emotional, financial, and stalking. Abuse can happen in person, online, or through texts and phone calls. Some specific examples of harmful behaviors are preventing a partner from spending time with family and friends, not allowing them to participate in extracurricular activities, telling them what or what not to wear, and threatening to hurt them or someone else. (Knowledge Networks, 2011)

A large national study found that at least 2 in 10 students reported experiencing at least one type of relationship abuse, including sexual violence while other studies suggest that this number may be much higher (Wong, 2023). A 2011 survey of college students found that 1 in 6 students had been sexually abused by their partner while a 2019 survey showed that out of 361 students who took the survey, more than 1 in 3 respondents reported being a victim of dating sexual abuse (Knowledge Networks, 2011; Wong, 2023). Abusive relationships can take a toll on a victim’s mental and physical health, increase exposure to sexually transmitted infections, and negatively impact a victim’s academic work (Wong, 2023).

To reduce relationship-based sexual violence and other forms of dating abuse that occurs on college campuses, it is important to first look at and understand the risk factors that lead to abuse, for both victims and perpetrators. Some of these factors for perpetrators include excessive drug and alcohol use, not caring about others, weak or unreliable support systems, or not knowing what a healthy relationship looks like (CDC 2024; ICADV n.d.). For victims and survivors, 7 in 10 college students who reported being in an abusive relationship had stated they had not known they were experiencing abuse at the time (ICADV, n.d.). A majority of those who reported experiencing these types of harmful relationships did not receive help from others (ICADV, n.d). 

It is possible for colleges and campus communities to reduce relationship violence on college campuses and promote healthy relationships, such as:

• Teaching and reinforcing to students that healthy relationships are built upon mutual respect, honesty, healthy boundaries and communication, paying attention to each other’s needs, giving one another space when needed, and providing love and support (Love Is Respect, 2024). Campus leaders, health and wellness staff, clubs, fraternities, and sororities, can all play a role in encouraging and modeling positive behaviors.
• Understanding that while not all unhealthy relationships are abusive, it is still good to improve certain actions and behaviors that can lead to control or other types of harm.
• Taking concerns of abuse including stalking seriously and help survivors of abuse by providing safe solutions.
• Creating, improving, or maintaining on and off-campus clubs or programs that allow for strong support systems and safety for students.
• Making sure that in teaching students about what healthy relationships should look like, to update, tailor and adapt according to the cohort of students as well as student’s or group of students’ social and cultural background.
• Creating space for students to have peer-to-peer opportunities or relationships with trained students or staff so that students have somewhere or someone they trust to go to if they are experiencing harm. 

Colleges should continue to create or maintain safe campus environments. To learn more about promoting healthy relationships for young people, below are some helpful resources:

MCASA: Prevention in Schools 

One Love Foundation

Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence

Love is Respect

Boundaries: What are they and how to create them

Domestic Violence Awareness Project

References

2011 College Dating Violence and Abuse Poll. (2011). Knowledge Networks. Retrieved January 2025, from here.

Relationship Spectrum. (2024). Love is Respect. Retrieved January 2025, from here. 

Risk and Protective Factors. (2024). Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Retrieved January 2025.

Violence Prevention in Higher Education – Why? N.d. Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV). Retrieved January 2025, from here.

Wong JS, Bouchard J, Lee C. The Effectiveness of College Dating Violence Prevention Programs: A Meta-Analysis. Trauma Violence Abuse. (2023). Retrieved January 2025, from here.