Objectives
This paper estimates the relation between women’s experience of violence and the age
of menarche, first sexual intercourse, and first birth.
Methods
The data are from the Younger Cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s
Health, which includes 9,683 women, aged between 22 and 27 years in 2000, who responded
to surveys in both 1996 and 2000.
Results
In 1996, 9% of women reported current or previous partner violence and a further 5%
reported it in 2000. Similarly, 11% and 8% reported recent nonpartner violence. Fifteen
percent of the women reported first intercourse at <16 years. Early first intercourse
was strongly associated with partner violence whereas young age at menarche and teenage
birth were only associated with partner violence reported when women were <24 years
old. Reported partner and recent nonpartner violence, when prevalent in 1996 or when
occurring between 1996 and 2000, were consistently associated with early age at first
intercourse; the earlier that age, the stronger the association. Women reporting intercourse
before 14 years were the most likely to report partner violence, with odds ratios
between 7 and 14 when compared with first intercourse reported by young women ≥17
years.
Conclusions
These data clearly demonstrate a nexus between early intercourse and reported violence
and add to the evidence of risks associated with early sexual initiation. These findings
substantiate the need to prevent or reduce rates of early sexual abuse, to protect
very young women from sexual exposure and to assist and support young women in their
sexual decision making. We need to identify young women who have already experienced
abuse or violence and undertake therapeutic interventions to prevent further victimization.
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Biography
Lyndsey Watson, MSc, is a Senior Research Fellow at Mother and Child Health Research at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia. She is a biostatistician and her current interests are in women’s health and preterm birth.
Biography
Angela Taft, MPH, PhD, is also a Senior Research Fellow at Mother and Child Health Research. She is a social scientist and her predominant research interest is on the mental and physical health impact of, and interventions to reduce, violence against women and children.
Biography
Christina Lee, PhD, is Professor of Health Psychology and Head of the School of Psychology at the University of Queensland, Australia. From 2000 until 2005 she was Manager and (later) Coordinator of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Her research interests are in the women’s life and reproductive choices, and their mental health.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 20, 2007
Accepted:
June 1,
2007
Received:
August 15,
2006
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
