Reproductive Justice & Violence: Key Data

Data — By on February 2, 2011 11:28 pm

BASIC OVERVIEW OF DATA FROM THE 2009 STATUS OF GIRLS IN ILLINOIS REPORT

  • In Illinois, 7.1% of girls ages 2 to 17 lack health insurance coverage of any kind (NSCH 2007).
  • In Chicago, Latina high school students (51.1%) are more likely to have had sexual intercourse than their Black (46.3%) counterparts. (YRBS 2009).
  • In Chicago, 35.5% of high school girls report being currently sexually active.  This is a decrease from 2007 when 40.6% of Chicago female high school students reported being currently sexually active. (YRBS 2009)
  • In 2007, there were 18,054 births to teen girls ages 15-19 in Illinois. (IDPH)
  • In Illinois, Latina girls have the highest birth rates among their peers. (CDC)
  • 86% of the pregnant and parenting female foster youth in DCFS care are African American (Dworsky & DeCoursey 2009).
  • In 2007, there were 7,138 abortions for young women under 19 years old in Illinois.
  • In Illinois, young women ages 15-19 accounted for 38% of cases of Chlamydia among all women in 2007. (IDPH)
  • 85.8% of Chicago female high school students have been taught in school about HIV/AIDS. (YRBS 2009)
  • 8.7% of female high school students describe themselves gay, lesbian, or bisexual, including 6.6% of black girls and 9.3% of Latina girls (other racial groups in the survey were too small to determine a reliable percentage). (YRBS 2007)
  • According to the Chicago Department of Public Health, in 2007, there were 23 girls and young women under 19 years old diagnosed with HIV, this accounted for 34% of youth cases.  In 2008, there were 20 girls and young women under 19 years old diagnosed with HIV which accounted for 26% of all youth cases.

The 2009 Chicago Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicates that among female high school students:

  • 45.3% ever had sexual intercourse; this is down significantly from 53% in 2007.
  • 35.5% are currently sexually active.  This is down from 40.6% in 2007.
  • 9.6% had sexual intercourse with four or more persons during their life.  This is down from 10.7% in 2007.
  • 5.1% had sexual intercourse for the first time before age 13.  This is down from 5.8% in 2007.
  • 42.4% of high school girls did NOT use a condom during last sexual intercourse.  This is up from 36.5% in 2007.
  • 57.6% of high school girls used a condom during last sexual intercourse.
  • 11.2% used birth control pills before their last sexual intercourse.

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS: DATA FROM THE 2009 YOUTH RISK BEHAVIOR SURVEILLANCE SURVEY:

For the first time since 1995, the YRBS conducted a survey of middle-school (6th, 7th & 8th grades) students in Chicago for the 2009 report.  These findings are particularly instructive when examined along with the high school data.

Percent of Chicago Female Middle and High School Students – Ever Had Sexual Intercourse

YRBS – 2009 High School (9-12) Middle School (6th, 7th, 8th grade)
TOTAL 45.3 10.8
Black 46.3 14.2
Hispanic 51.1 8.4
White N/A N/A

Percent of Chicago Female Middle and High School Students

Sex before 13 years old Sex before 11 years old
YRBS – 2009 High School Middle School
TOTAL 5.1 2.1
Black 5.8 1.9
Hispanic 3.2 2.0
White N/A N/A

Chicago Female Middle and High School Students

Had sexual intercourse with 4 or more persons (during their lifetime) Had sexual intercourse with 3 or more persons (during their lifetime)
YRBS – 2009 High School Middle School
TOTAL 9.6 1.8
Black 8.3 3.1
Hispanic 10.8 0.2
White N/A N/A

Reproductive Coercion

We have not found data that is Chicago-specific on reproductive coercion.  However, the data reported in 2010 from a California study in the journal Contraception is instructive. In a cross-sectional survey of young women ages 16 – 29, who had sought care at 5 different family planning clinics in California:

“Fifty-three percent of respondents reported physical or sexual partner violence, 19% reported experiencing pregnancy coercion and 15% reported birth control sabotage. One third of respondents reporting partner violence (35%) also reported reproductive control. Both pregnancy coercion and birth control sabotage were associated with unintended pregnancy (AOR 1.83, 95% CI 1.36–2.46, and AOR 1.58, 95% CI 1.14–2.20, respectively). In analyses stratified by partner violence exposure, associations of reproductive control with unintended pregnancy persisted only among women with a history of partner violence.”