According to a new analysis of data from the 2002 National Survey on Family Growth, 18% of females aged 18-24 reported having involuntary or forced sex at least once. The report, released by Childtrends -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan research center in Washington, DC -- stated that over 50% percent of those reporting forced sex, said the first encounter occurred when they were 16 years or younger. Those who have had forced sex were more likely to have had a sexually transmitted disease (STD) (15%), and to have had more sexual partners (8 average) than those who had never been forced to have sexual intercourse (7% STD rate and 3 partners average). Verbal pressure and being physically held down were the two most commonly reported methods of force used with physical injury, threat and use of alcohol and drugs also reported by more than 25% of respondents. The experience of having forced sexual intercourse did not vary by ethnicity or socioeconomic status.

For more information, please visit http://www.childtrends.org/files/Child_Trends-2008_09_10_FS_ForcedSex.pdf.

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