Teen dating violence survivor gets justice, free resources available in Central Texas
Hailey Solis, now in her 20s, endured months of dating violence when she was in 8th grade.
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Hailey Solis, now in her 20s, endured months of dating violence when she was in 8th grade.
"There was this boy who kept asking me out. I said no many times," she said. "A few of those times, he took it lightly and he brushed it off. But then he would start verbally abusing, saying that no one would love me except for him. After a few other times, that's when it started to get physical."
As this happened, Solis suffered in silence.
"I was so afraid of him and what he would do that I did not want to tell anybody, I was just going to allow it to go on," she said.
Then one day, her friends saw marks on her face and told a school resource officer.
"He ended up getting arrested," Solis said of her abuser. "We did go to court and we did end up winning, thankfully."
KXAN connected with Hailey through the Texas Advocacy Project, which provides free legal services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking throughout the state.
"Get help. Get help as fast as you can," said Solis.
Years after her abuse, she's now in a loving relationship with her boyfriend Christian - who said his favorite things about her are her interests and her personality.
"With Christian, he did not have to force me to care for him, he did not have to force me to love him," she said. "Being in a loving relationship means being gentle with your partner."
Hear from Solis tonight on KXAN at 6.
Warning signs
According to Domestic Violence Services, Inc., roughly 1.5 million high school students in the U.S. have gone through something similar to Solis, and one in three young people will be in an abusive or unhealthy relationship.
Heather Bellino, CEO of the Texas Advocacy Project, said teens often have difficulty coming forward about dating violence - whether it's physical or emotional - so it helps to have as many people as possible understand the warning signs.
"Things like... 'If you loved me, you'd skip school and hang out with me. If you loved me, you'd let me take your car. If you loved me, you'd give me all of your passwords for social media," she said. "'If you loved me,' looks really bad and really dangerous to somebody on the outside, but on the inside it looks like 'If I loved them."
Warning signs also exist for the person getting abused, Bellino said. Those include things like lashing out, becoming uncharacteristically reserved, or any other sudden changes in behavior.
KXAN will add more information about available resources later this afternoon. Check back for updates.