Originally published August 6 2005
Date rape leads to higher risk of STDs
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new study has shown that girls who are victimized by date rapists have a higher chance of contracting STDs.
Adolescent girls who have been shoved, hit, forced into any sexual activity or otherwise physically or sexually abused by a date are more likely than their non-abused peers to have been tested for a sexually transmitted disease and to report being diagnosed with an STD.
"We are seeing a staggering proportion of teenage girls experiencing physical and sexual violence from dating partners," study author Michele R. Decker, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts told Reuters Health.
"Violence against women has been linked with numerous negative health outcomes and I think through this study we are seeing further evidence of the tremendous health consequences of this violence," she added.
Decker and her co-authors analyzed data from 1,621 sexually active girls in grades 9 through 12, who had been involved in the 1999 and 2001 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveys.
Altogether, nearly 40 percent of girls who reported having been tested for a STD said they had experienced dating violence, as did more than 50 percent of those diagnosed with a STD or HIV, the researchers report in the medical journal Pediatrics.
Girls who reported experiencing both physical and sexual violence were 2.4 times more likely to say they had been tested for an STD and three times more likely to report having been tested for both an STD and HIV than were their non-victimized peers.
When asked why dating violence might be associated with STD testing and diagnosis, Decker responded that it is likely due to a combination of factors.
"That is to say that these girls are often in coercive or forced sexual situations with their dating partners and are unable to request condoms or ensure that condoms are used."
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