Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer.
Why are we always pointing to Instagram as the cause of mental illness in our teenagers? It’s frustrating that abusive relationships, and the trauma they cause, are rarely mentioned in discussions about the prevalence of mental health problems in young people. Research by Women’s Aid and Cosmopolitan has found that a third of teenage girls have been in an abusive relationship. And, if that isn’t shocking enough, when the remaining two-thirds were asked further questions, it emerged that 64% of them had, in fact, experienced abusive behaviour – they just didn’t realise it was abuse.
Domestic abuse is normally associated with women cowering on the floor, as a violent husband waits to strike, or mothers covering up their black eyes with concealer before the school run. On the same day that the domestic abuse bill received its second reading in parliament, Age UK called for action to tackle domestic abuse of over-60s, whose needs it says are often overlooked by the law, policy and practice. The needs of teenagers in the heady throes of first love who are in emotionally abusive relationships also need to be recognised.
Common themes of such relationships include (though are not limited to) excessive jealousy, repeated criticism and sexual coercion. If your boyfriend or girlfriend is checking your phone, constantly asking to know your whereabouts, getting upset when you spend time away, turning up unannounced to surprise you, these are all examples of coercive control. If they never apologise in an argument and make everything your fault, tell you what you can and can’t wear, undermine you and/or publicly humiliate you under the guise of a “joke”, these again are common instances of controlling behaviour. Ditto, if they have a Jekyll/Hyde personality, make you feel like you are walking on eggshells even when things are seemingly going well, and threaten to hurt themselves if you leave. When it comes to sexual coercion and rape, examples include making you feel pressured to perform sexual acts you’re uncomfortable with, such as sending nude photos, having sex before you’re ready, being pressured to re-enact extreme sex from porn films or being told you don’t love them if you say no.
Often the victim in an abusive relationship can never quite put their finger on one thing, but the overwhelming feeling is of a general unease, feeling unsafe, defective, wrong, scared and as if you are going crazy. It’s your “yourselfness” that’s being consistently undermined, controlled and attacked by the person who claims to love you.
Which of the following is closest in meaning to “prevalence” as used in the passage?
