Abstract
Sexual coercion and its relationship to high-risk sexual behavior were examined in five samples of young women. Sample 1 (N=22) consisted of sexually active adolescents aged 15 to 19. Samples 2 (N=206) and 3 (N=70) were recruited from among patients at three sexually transmitted disease clinics. Sample 4 (N=51) consisted of young homeless women living on the street in a large city. Sample 5 (N=51) was recruited from among young women on a college campus. Across all samples, 44.4% of women indicated that they had been forced into some form of sexual activity against their will. Self-reports of sexually coercive experiences were consistently related to risky sexual behavior. It appears that many young women are coerced into engaging in high-risk sexual behavior. This implies the need for greater attention to male coercive sexual behavior and women's skills for coping with such behavior.
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Support for this paper was provided by Grant HD 26249 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Grant MH45651 from the National Institute of Mental Health.
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Biglan, A., Noell, J., Ochs, L. et al. Does sexual coercion play a role in the high-risk sexual behavior of adolescent and young adult women?. J Behav Med 18, 549–568 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01857895
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01857895