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accessHealthNews.net
April 2024
Volume 10 | Issue No. 83
Sexual violence experienced by adoles-
cents and young adults is a public health
issue that can adversely affect lifelong
opportunity and well-being. According to
a report, "Sexual Assault in Adolescents,"
sexual violence during childhood triples
an individual's likelihood of experiencing
future sexual or physical abuse and may
increase the chances of becoming a per-
petrator later in life.
The most recent Youth Risk Behavior Sur-
vey, 2011 - 2021, by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reveals many con-
cerning statistics:
• Almost 20% of female U.S. high school
students experienced sexual violence, with
this percentage rising from 2017 to 2021.
• Nearly 15% of female students reported
having been physically forced to have sex-
ual intercourse when they didn't want to.
• Multiracial students were more likely than
students from all other racial and ethnic
groups to experience sexual violence.
Sexual violence is described in the CDC
report as "being forced by anyone to do
sexual things -- including kissing, touching
or being physically forced to have sexual
intercourse -- when they do not want to."
Adolescence is a time of rapid brain
development, in which the processing of
information begins to switch from the
emotional part of the brain (the amyg-
dala) to the logical part of the brain (the
prefrontal cortex). According to Stanford
Medicine, the rational part of a teen's
brain doesn't fully develop until age 25 or
so. When sexual violence is experienced
during this critical stage of development,
it can activate the body's biological stress
response systems, resulting in behavioral
and emotional changes leading to ad-
verse academic performance. Teenagers
are teenagers, no matter where they re-
side in the world.
Results of a small London, England study
of 75 adolescents aged 13-17 onboarded
into the research within six weeks of a sex-
ual assault and followed for approximately
a year during the study found that par-
ticipants exhibited a persistent absence
from school of greater than 30 days from
school, doubling between study entry and
end, from 22% to 47%. Three participants
younger than 16 were not in school at the
end of the study.
"Sexual violence: An all-encompassing, non-legal
term that refers to crimes like sexual assault, rape,
and sexual abuse."
READ MORE
- RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network)
