Youth History of Forced Sex by Year, Grades 9-12, New Mexico, Odd Years, 2007 to 2015

Why Is This Important?

Nationally, about 1 in 5 women have experienced completed or attempted rape (an estimated 23 million women), and about 1 in 20 men (an estimated 1,692,000). Most victims are raped before the age of 18 years. The long-term impact of sexual violence victimization on suicide risk, mental health, and substance abuse has been well documented. Data from the 2015 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS) indicate that 7.3% of high school students reported that they had been forced to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to. The YRRS data also indicate that youth with a history of forced sex had over twice the risk for alcohol use, tobacco use, and illicit drug use than youth who did not report a history of forced sex, and more than three times the risk for poor mental health outcomes, including suicide attempts and suicide ideation. Adverse health effects of forced sexual intercourse may be long-term and may include suicide ideation and attempts, poor mental health, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, chronic major depression, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Definition

History of forced sex among youth is measured by the percentage of NM high school students who answered "yes" to the question, "Have you ever been physically forced to have sexual intercourse when you did not want to?" on the 2015 NM Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey.

Data Source

How the Measure is Calculated

Health Topic Pages Related to: Injury - Youth History of Forced Sex

• Injury and Violence