Girls with a history of forced sex are also more likely to engage in risky
sexual behaviors like having multiple partners and using drugs or alcohol
during their last sexual encounter, both of which boost the odds of contracting
an STD.
But their likelihood of having an STD remains higher even after taking
these risky behaviors into account, say Dawn Upchurch, Ph.D., and Yasamin
Kusunoki, M.P.H., of the UCLA School of Public Health.
“Our results, along with those of other studies, suggest that there
may be multiple and often enduring consequences of sexual violence against
women,” Upchurch and Kusunoki say.
The researchers suggest that programs to reduce STDs among sexually active
teen girls “would potentially benefit from also including a component
that addresses sexual victimization.”
Upchurch and colleagues examined data from a 1994-1995 survey of 3,579
sexually active girls in the seventh through 12th grades. The girls were
asked whether they had ever had an STD, how old they were the first time
they had sexual intercourse, how many sexual partners they had had in their
lifetime and whether they used drugs, alcohol or condoms during their last
sexual intercourse.
The teens were also asked whether they had ever been “physically
forced to have sexual intercourse against [their] will.” About
20 percent of the girls said that description applied to them.
One in five of the girls said they had their first sexual intercourse
before age 14. Almost half of those surveyed said they used a condom during
their last intercourse, 8 percent said they used drugs or alcohol during
their last sexual encounter and 11 percent said they had a history of sexually
transmitted disease.
Girls who had multiple partners, were younger than 14 at their first sexual
intercourse or who used drugs or alcohol during their last intercourse
were more likely to have had an STD, the researchers found.
