(Reuters Health) – Nearly one in eight sexually active teen girls are pressured by their partners to have unprotected sex and try to conceive when they don’t want a baby, a U.S. study suggests.
Researchers focused on what’s known as reproductive coercion, a form of relationship abuse that can involve things like poking holes in condoms, hiding birth control pills, physically hurting girls who refuse to have unprotected sex, or threatening to break up with them if they don’t want a baby.
The study team examined survey data from 550 sexually active girls 14 to 19 years old who sought care from high school health centers. Overall, 12% reported experiencing reproductive coercion within the past three months, and 17% reported physical or sexual abuse.
“Abuse among all types of romantic relationships is common,” said Amber Hill, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania.
“Reproductive coercion, another form…
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