Many US women say 1st sexual experience was forced in teens


Little girl suffering bullying raises her palm asking to stop the violence assault tile violence domestic assault abuse sexual assault rape sexual violence tile / Getty Images
Little girl suffering bullying raises her palm asking to stop the violence assault tile violence domestic assault abuse sexual assault rape sexual violence tile / Getty Images

CHICAGO (AP) -- The first sexual experience for 1 in 16 U.S. women was forced or coerced intercourse in their teens.

That's according to a study published Monday that says those encounters may have had lasting health consequences.

The authors say the experiences amount to rape, but they relied on a national survey that didn't use the word in asking about forced sex.

It happened to almost 7 percent of women surveyed, they were age 15 on average the man was often several years older.

Affected women had more sex partners, unwanted pregnancies and abortions, and more reproductive health problems than other women. Almost 16 percent reported fair or poor health, double the rate of other women.

Other data show nearly 1 in 5 U.S. women have been raped in their lifetimes.

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