According to a study, one in 16 women in the United States had her first sexual experience



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The study, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine, notes that the World Health Organization recognizes that forced sexual initiation – "a first unwanted sexual intercourse forced or physically coerced" – is a distinct form of violence. sexual.

"We think it's fair to describe these events as rapes," said Dr. Laura Hawks, a primary care physician and academic researcher at Harvard Medical School, who co-authored the study.

According to this study, 6.5% of the women interviewed had forced or forced first unwanted sexual intercourse and this "seems to be common". The researchers estimated that it was one in 16 American women.

The average age of women with forced sexual initiation was 15.6 years. The average age of the partner or assailant at the time was 6 years old. Among women whose first sexual intercourse was voluntary, the average age was 17.4 years.

About 50% of the women surveyed said that the author was older or older. More than 46% of women were screened. In 56% of cases, men used verbal pressure. Men used physical threats more than 26% of the time and caused physical damage in more than 25% of cases. Some 22% of women were drugged.

Survivors have had long-term consequences, such as increased rates of HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, pelvic inflammatory diseases, endometriosis and menstrual problems. More than 30% reported having a first unwanted pregnancy, while 24% reported having had an abortion in their lifetime – higher percentages than women who had first sexual intercourse.

Previous research has shown that more than 40% of women have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime and that half of them have been raped. The authors of this study stated that there was no recent data regarding the first sexual experiences. The survey included 13,310 women and was nationally representative of the population aged 18 to 44 years. The data come from the National Family and Growth Survey from 2011 to 2017.

"A practicing doctor is likely to see several patients each week who have experienced this form of trauma," wrote the study's authors, claiming that doctors should develop tools to identify and help those who have been diagnosed with it. victims.

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