Whether your last date was a dream or a nightmare, you deserve a basic level of respect from friends and potential romantic partners.
Remember—you have a right to:
- Ask for a date.
- Refuse a date.
- Go places by yourself, if you want to.
- Not act macho or seductive.
- Say "no" to physical closeness.
- Say, "I want to know you better before we have sex."
- Declare you want to end the relationship.
- Expect an equal relationship with someone of the opposite sex
- Expect an equal relationship with someone of the same sex.
- Keep your friends while you're dating.
- Express your feelings, and be yourself, even if that's not the "norm."
- Change your mind.
- Expect that your morals, values, and beliefs will be respected.
- Say, "I love you" without having sex.
Adapted from "Handouts on Relationship Violence," from the Family Violence Network, Scott A. Johnson, 1991.