New Study Documents Sexual Coercion Among Young People
Among the many challenges of being a teenager, one stands out: understanding your own sexuality and desire for intimate connection. With the onslaught of romantic and sexual imagery in virtually every part of popular culture, it is also becoming increasingly difficult to sort out what you think and believe from what society tells you to think and do.
With this in mind, a recent CDC study of teenage sexuality comes as little surprise, with some good news about contraceptive use and some other results that perhaps should generate a good deal of concern. Among the study’s results:
· approximately 40% of teenagers have had sexual intercourse;
· 95% of those have used a condom;
· 14% of females and 18% of males would be pleased if a pregnancy resulted from sex.
There are many topics in this study to be explored, and a variety of blog posts and mainstream media articles have been written on it. The blog Feministing notes some overlooked but troubling statistics concerning consent.
Among females aged 18-24 whose first sex was before age 20, 10% “really didn’t want it to happen at the time”, 47% had mixed feelings, and 43% “really wanted it to happen at the time”. This varied depending on the age at first sex. For those who had 1st sex at 14 years or younger, 18% really didn’t want it to happen, compared with 8% among those whose first sex was at age 18 or 19. On the other hand, more than a quarter of females aged 18-24 whose first sex was at age 14 or younger (29%) really wanted it to happen at the time. First sex with an older partner was associated with much higher percents of females reporting “really didn’t want it to happen”. Among those whose first partners were 3 or more years older, 19% reported that they didn’t really want it to happen at the time, compared with 5% among those whose first partners were the same age or younger.
These statistics are consistent with those identified by Child Trends in 2008, when it found that approximately 18% of women ages 18 – 24 report have experienced forced sexual intercourse at least once in their lives.
We’re pleased to see the CDC tracking these statistics. Its new study raises many questions. Optimistically, it could prompt the kind of additional research that we need. For policymakers, advocates, educators, parents and others, it raises important issues, including:
· How we can educate girls and boys in nurturing healthy relationships, while recognizing and getting help for those who are in abusive ones?
· How can we modify our pregnancy and HIV prevention programs to incorporate coerced sex as a possible cause, especially among young teens?
· What policies can we put in place to stop coerced sex among young people?
Every time I would confront him about his lies and unfaithfulness, he would force himself on me sexually. He always refused to wear a condom and would act offended when I suggested he use one."
