Sexual Violence and Teen Pregnancy
Sexual violence is a major cause, directly and indirectly, of teen pregnancy. If we want to end teen pregnancy, we need to end sexual violence against teenagers.
Although I’ve read the many of the relevant statistics before, I’ve never made the connection this clearly, until the SAFER blog alerted me to this article on the website of the Center for American Progress. Written by Malika Saada Saar, the Executive Director of The Rebecca Project for Human Rights, the article draws a clear line between sexual violence against women—especially women of color—and an increased likelihood of becoming pregnant as a teenager.
Some key stats:
An estimated 60 percent of teen girls’ first pregnancies are preceded by experiences of molestation, rape, or attempted rape.
The average age of first intercourse for abused girls is 13.8, in contrast to the national average of 16.2. Only 28 percent of the abused girls used birth control at first intercourse, compared to 74 percent of girls in the general population.
Approximately 40 percent of black women report coercive sexual contact by the time they turn 18. Native Americans are victims of rape or sexual assault at more than double the rate of other racial groups—and are more likely to be victimized by non-Native American perpetrators.
Her whole argument is well worth the read as it points to the need to strengthen ties between the anti-violence and reproductive health communities. Successfully tackling teen pregnancy is going to require tackling sexual violence. Sex ed needs to have anti-violence components. Parents and pediatricians need to talk to teens about sexual violence (not just to women about protecting themselves, but to all teens about respecting everyone’s bodily autonomy). And we need to make sure that any teenager (male or female) who has experienced abuse gets counseling—and that includes making sure such counseling is covered by health insurance and Medicaid. Saar’s article really brought home to me how broadly we need to think about teens’ reproductive health if we truly want to reduce teen pregnancy.
By Nora Niedzielski-Eichner