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“A dream you dream alone is only a dream; a dream you dream together is reality.” — Yoko Ono
Aug
16
The Link Between Teen Pregnancy and Sexual Violence
Filed Under misogyny, paternalism, patriarchy, pregnancy, rape and sexual assault, reproductive justice, sex and sexuality, slut-shaming, violence against women and girls, women’s health | Posted by Cara |
Ashley at SAFER recently linked to a fascinating piece on teen pregnancy by The Center for American Progress. It’s one that I think everyone ought to read, because it so clearly illustrates the connection between sexual violence and “traditional” reproductive rights issues. I’ve always felt that sexual violence is undoubtedly a reproductive justice issue, as it concerns a woman’s right and ability to make choices about her sexuality and her body. But here’s an even more tangible reason why sexual violence and the choice when and if to have a child are inextricably connected. (all links from original piece)
Teen pregnancy isn’t simply about girls and boys being promiscuous, or lacking access to sex education or contraception. Too often teen pregnancy is about girls losing agency over their bodies because of the unbearable injuries of being sexually violated.
Underneath the discourse about the educational strategies needed to prevent teen pregnancy lies a much harder and complex issue: Violence in girls’ lives leaves them at risk for teen pregnancy—especially for girls of color.
A significant correlation exists between childhood sexual abuse and teen pregnancy. An estimated 60 percent of teen girls’ first pregnancies are preceded by experiences of molestation, rape, or attempted rape. In one study, between 30 and 44 percent of teen mothers were victims of rape or attempted rape. Up to 20 percent of girls become pregnant as the direct result of rape.*
The Harvard School of Public Health’s exhaustive research on the lives of girls demonstrates that girls who are victims of violence from dating partners are four to six times more likely than non-abused girls to become pregnant, and eight to nine times more likely to attempt suicide.
Other research findings compare sexually abused pregnant teens to pregnant teens who have not suffered sexual abuse. The sexually abused girls initiated intercourse a year earlier than their peers and engaged in a wide variety of high-risk behaviors, including substance abuse. 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.
I’m a person who has long believed that sex education should actually be about sex rather than just about contraception, and that discussions of consent and sexual violence prevention education — and I mean real prevention education, not “watch your drink” — need to be a part of that. But I still hadn’t considered such a strong cause and effect relationship between the two until now . . . and it certainly makes me think about that high rate of teen pregnancy at my high school from a whole new angle.
The Center For American Progress also takes a look at the high number of teen pregnancies among girls of color in the context of the rates of sexual violence committed against them:
The research revealed that while 19 percent of white girls will become pregnant during their teen years, 53 percent of Latina and 51 percent of African-American girls will do so.
[. . .]
Sexual violence is especially pervasive in the lives of girls of color. An unfortunate, historical narrative oversexualizes black and brown girls. Even today this narrative renders their bodies more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and devaluation. 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
These facts are usually left out of the teen pregnancy prevention conversation. As Ashley noted, on the left there are cries for more comprehensive sex education and access, and on the right there is moral panic and proclamations that promoting abstinence is the only way. What the conservative opinion ignores/obscures is not only the unrealistic nature of their plan, but also the fact that engaging in sexual activity is not always a choice, and that refusing to talk about sex means also refusing to talk about what healthy, consensual sex actually is. And while greater access to and education about contraception is certainly needed, those of us on the left generally fail to note that greater access and education won’t help a teen who has been sexually traumatized and feels as though she does not own her own body. It seems that we may be focusing a good bulk of our efforts on an only partial solution, particularly in many communities of color where teen pregnancy rates are highest and sexual violence rates most disturbing.
These figures are quite stunning. This is what ought to be making headlines, not bullshit “pregnancy pact” scare stories. While there is of course current work being done in this area, broader awareness, support and resources are clearly needed. We just need to wake up, pay attention, admit that we haven’t been entirely right, and start doing something about it. It’s obviously much too dangerous to see sexual violence and teen pregnancy as issues that ought to be tackled separately.
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“Men, their rights, and nothing more; women, their rights, and nothing less.” — Susan B. Anthony
Wow, sounds like my mom. A random onlooker would just wonder why she hadn’t been “smart” and used birth control at 16 while I know she was in an abusive relationship. And those percentages for teen pregnancy are shocking. I wonder when it first occurs to these men that women are there for them to control as much as they want. How young are they when they start thinking this way?
“Up to 20 percent of girls become pregnant as the direct result of rape.*”
That’s not what that study says.
You can read the abstract here.
http://www.popline.org/docs/0947/070657.html
AC, the abstract doesn’t seem to say anything one way or the other about the number of teen pregnancies that are the direct result of rape. It’s quite possible that this finding is in the data, but wasn’t the overall point of the study and therefore didn’t make it into the abstract.
The quotations from those articles do a good job of pointing out the strong correlations between sexual violence and teen pregnancy but that does not necessarily establish a cause and effect relationship. How does sexual violence (aside from the 20% of pregnancies that were the direct result of rape) result in higher teen pregnancy rates?
For instance, why would sexually abused teenagers be less likely to use birth control at first intercourse? That question assumes first intercourse was consensual, and unfortunately that may not be the case. The fact that black, Native American, and Latina women are disproportionately abused suggest to me that other factors play a large role; like poverty, and as one of the articles noted, valuations of the bodies of women of color.
Ryan, it does explain in the article the phenomenon of “disembodied self” experienced by large numbers of young women who are sexually abused. They do not see their bodies as their own, give that control over to others out of lack of other options and don’t really care what happens to them. You should check it out. Also, it is very possible that the first intercourse was non-consensual, but sexual abuse does not necessarily infer penetrative rape with a penis. There are many forms of sexual abuse. Also, being unfamiliar with the methodology, they may have actually asked the girls about first consensual intercourse. And further yet, the first intercourse being a rape is of course an even bigger problem.
So no, it does not undoubtedly establish a cause and effect relationship but it is particularly compelling and matches evidence that has been found in many, many different studies that girls who are raped and otherwise sexually abused are more likely to become promiscuous and/or repeatedly sexually violated.
Among other reasons, they’re more vulnerable to pressure not to; and less likely to assert their comfort, safety, and pleasure as important.
[...] connected on a regular basis. Sexual violence accounts for a particularly large number of teen pregnancies, many of which do end in abortion. Adult women are also prone to pregnancy as a result of rape, [...]
[...] It’s a part of the reason why I so strongly feel and regularly advocate that anti-rape education needs to be a part of sexual health education. Of course, sexual violence is a sexual health issue. But from a strictly practical level, you can’t teach kids how to use condoms and expect that to be enough to prevent pregnancy and STDs on the whole. The current model, the way in which we teach teens (and adults!) how to use condoms and other contraception, almost always supposes that consensual sex makes up for all of the STDs and pregnancies they’re attempting to prevent. And it just plain doesn’t, as much as we wish it did. [...]