South Ayrshire Multi Agency Partnership
Information For Young People
The only person responsible for abuse is the person who is abusing. Nobody asks
or wants to be abused.
We all deserve respect.
Respect yourself
We all deserve respect and we should all have respect for ourselves. Sometimes people
we care about can treat us badly and this can make it difficult to take care of
ourselves.
Respecting yourself means:
- not being forced or persuaded to do something you don't want to
- having relationships with people who show you respect
- taking care of yourself
- asking for support when you think you need it
- telling people what it is you need to feel safe and happy
- having control over our own lives and bodies
Respect for others
Everyone should have respect and therefore we all have a responsibility to show
respect for others.
To do this we should:
- listen to and try to understand other people's concerns and worries
- never try to force someone to do something they do not feel comfortable doing
- never try to hurt someone physically, emotionally or sexually
- understand that sometimes people like to have some time to themselves or with other
friends
- remember that everyone is different
Respect in Relationships
Only when we have respect for ourselves and others can we be sure that we can have
respectful relationships. We have lots of different relationships in our lives and
these can include: friends, family, girlfriends/boyfriends.
We all deserve respect in relationships and this means:
- feeling safe
- feeling cared for
- being able to do things we enjoy
- not feeling threatened or being hurt
- having the information we need to make decisions about our own lives
- people listening when we say "no"
- being able to ask for help and support when we need it
Sometimes the very people we want to treat us with respect can be the people who
are hurting us. It is always good to have someone you can speak to about things
that worry us, but sometimes, for different reasons, there doesn't seem to be anyone
who can help or understand what you are feeling.
Reproduced from the 'Think Respect' leaflet with kind permission from The Women's
Support Project, 31 Stockwell St, Glasgow, G1 4RZ. Scottish charity No. SCO21846