Rape and Sexual Coercion Related Pregnancy in the United States

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Prev Med
• Personal Author:
  D’Angelo, Denise V. ; Liu, Yang ; Basile, Kathleen C. ; Smith, Sharon G. ; Chen, Jieru ; Friar, Norah W. ; Stevens, Mark
• Description:
  Introduction:
  
  Sexual violence is a major public health problem in the U.S. that is associated with numerous health impacts, including pregnancy. U.S. population-based estimates (2010–2012) found that three million women experienced a rape-related pregnancy during their lifetimes. The current study presents more recent estimates of rape and sexual coercion-related pregnancy and examines prevalence by demographic characteristics.
  
  Methods:
  
  Data years 2016/2017 were pooled from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, a random-digit-dial telephone survey of U.S. non-institutionalized adults 18 years and older. The analysis, conducted in 2023, examined lifetime experience of rape-related pregnancy, sexual coercion-related pregnancy, or both among U.S. women. Authors calculated prevalence estimates with 95% CIs and conducted pairwise chi-square tests (p-value<0.05) to describe experiences by current age, race/ethnicity, and region of residence among U.S. women overall and among victims.
  
  Results:
  
  One in 20 women in the U.S., or over 5.9 million women, experienced a pregnancy from either rape, sexual coercion, or both during their lifetimes. Non-Hispanic Multiracial women experienced a higher prevalence of all three outcomes compared with non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic women. Among victims who experienced pregnancy from rape, 28% experienced a sexually transmitted disease, 66% were injured, and over 80% were fearful or concerned for their safety.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Pregnancy as a consequence of rape or sexual coercion is experienced by an estimated six million U.S. women. Prevention efforts may include healthcare screenings to identify violence exposure and use of evidence-based prevention approaches to reduce sexual violence.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Coercion Ethnicity Female Humans Pregnancy Rape Sex Offenses Sexual Behavior Sexual Partners United States

  More +
• Source:
  Am J Prev Med. 66(3):389-398
• Pubmed ID:
  37935321
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10951889
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  3
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:46668ba75b0d1f8e90241b88977e0bcdab437661c9cefe689e6695a97066b573
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/153450/cdc_153450_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 115.00 KB ]