Teenage Girls with Older Male Partners, Age at Sexual Initiation, and Teenage Pregnancy in Colombia

• In Event: 2366 - Considering Men and Partners

Abstract

There has been a disturbing increase in teenage pregnancy in Colombia in recent decades which is associated with many characteristics of women’s lives. However, one known association from other contexts that has never been explored in Colombia is the potential for a higher risk of teenage pregnancy among teenage girls with older male sexual partners. One reason for this higher risk may be that teenage girls with older partners potentially have less bargaining power and control over decision making within relationships. Women’s potentially subjugated role within sexual relationships is also strongly influenced by broader social conventions which often define “normal” female behavior within relationships as passive and deferent when it comes to decision making. Strangely, results from this study show that dramatic narrowing in the average age difference between partners has occurred over the same time period as increased rates of teenage pregnancy were observed. However, older partners still put teenager girls (particularly those over 16) at higher risk of pregnancy, but the effect of reductions over time in age differences was not strong enough to counteract the increased risk of teenage pregnancy due to younger average age at sexual initiation (a reflection of broader social changes in sexual behavior). Among teenage girls who experience sexual initiation below age 16, there was a very high risk of pregnancy which was further increased with similar aged partners as compared to older partners. However, there is also a very large portion of very young teenage girls with significantly older male partners, a tendency that most likely leads to high rates of sexual coercion and other negative outcomes. This study highlights the importance of understanding the unique risk factors according to the age at which teens begin to have sexual relationships as well as the importance of female empowerment and more gender egalitarian social norms more generally.

Author

• Theresa Marie Fedor, Universidad de Los Andes