Sexual violence and reproductive health among young people in three communities in Jamaica

A secondary analysis of data collected from 1,130 young people ages 15 to 24 in a population-based household survey to assess the reproductive health needs of young people in three communities in Jamaica was conducted to determine the relationships among three measures of sexual violence, background variables, three measures of sexual risk taking (early sexual debut, multiple partners, and no condom at last sex), and two reproductive health outcomes (genital discharge within the past 12 months and pregnancy). In the multivariate analyses, forced first sex increased the likelihood of genital discharge among males (odds ratio, OR = 5.33) and females (OR = 2.02) and pregnancy among females (OR = 2.05), controlling for background characteristics and sexual risk taking. Associations between sexual violence and reported genital discharge and pregnancy that were not mediated by our measures of sexual risk taking were found. More research into the causal mechanisms for this association is needed.