Two-thirds of a sample of 535 young women from the state of
Washington who became pregnant as adolescents had been sexually
abused: Fifty-five percent had been molested, 42 percent had been
victims of attempted rape and 44 percent had been raped. Compared with
adolescent women who became pregnant but had not been abused, sexually
victimized teenagers began intercourse a year earlier, were more
likely to have used drugs and alcohol and were less likely to practice
contraception. The abused adolescents were also more likely to have
been hit, slapped or beaten by a partner and to have exchanged sex for
money, drugs or a place to stay. Young women in the abused group were
also more likely to report that their own children had been abused or
had been taken from them by Child Protective Services.