Sexual Coercion, Unintended Pregnancy, and Poor Reproductive Health Among Adolescent Girls (Aged 13-19) in Mexico

• Published in: Dignity (Kingston, R.I.) Vol. 7; no. 1
• Main Authors: Kumar Acharya, Arun, Martinez-Sanchez, Maria Luisa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.03.2022
• ISSN: 2472-4181; 2472-4181
• DOI: 10.23860/dignity.2022.07.01.07

In Mexico, nearly 23,000 adolescents between the ages of 12-17 years suffer sexual coercion every year. This group also has a high birth rate of 77/1,000 adolescents, which indicates that one in every five pregnant women is an adolescent. This study describes the sexual coercion of victims and their views regarding the experience based on data collected from 37 Mexican girls between the age of 13 to 19, selected purposively using the snowball method in Monterrey city, Mexico. Results indicate that sexual coercion among adolescents is a serious problem, where 70% of adolescents experienced vaginal sexual coercion, nearly 22% experienced vaginal and oral sexual coercion, and eight percent suffered vaginal, verbal, and anal sexual coercion. Almost 50% of adolescent girls suffered sexual coercion by multiple partners. Of 37 girls’ responses, nearly one-fourth of them (nine adolescents) said that they suffered unintended pregnancy due to coercion, and many of them suffered from different types of sexually transmitted diseases, which may reduce their reproductive potential in the long term. This research study showed an association between sexual coercion and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents. Sexually coerced adolescents experience many reproductive health problems such as pain or burning while urinating, irregular menstruation, itching or irritation, lower abdominal pain, and vaginal discharge.