JOAN (not her real name) blamed herself for provoking her then-boyfriend when he knocked her head against the wall and punched her ears.
Joan, now 23, thought the attacks were 'common'.
Similarly, Rachel (not her real name) was 16 when her then-boyfriend held a kitchen knife to her throat. He said he would kill himself too.
Joan and Rachel are not alone in failing to recognise such acts as dating violence.
Dr Carol Balhetchet, director of youth services at the Singapore Children's Society, said 'many victims do not speak up because they feel embarrassed, guilty or responsible for the perpetrators' behaviour, which is a wrong way of thinking.'
This is one of the issues that the inaugural Dating Violence Awareness Week (DVAW), launched on Saturday, hopes to address.
Mrs Seah Kheng Yeow, family development head of the Centre for Promoting Alternatives to Violence (PAVe), said the aim is to 'educate youths about the warning signs of dating violence, and also to create awareness about where and how to seek help.'
DVAW is organised by PAVe and a group of final-year students at the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University. Visits will be made to some schools and homes during the week to spread the message.
A survey last year of 250 tertiary students found that half had not heard of the term 'dating violence'.
Although there are no figures on dating violence in Singapore, PAVe saw nine cases of such violence last year (2008), up from two in 2003.
