Background Negative Sexual Experiences

this event. Consideration of these factors is important, especially given our knowl-edge that a certain proportion of inter-course is nonvoluntary, and that this pro-portion is greater at younger ages.2 According to 1987 national data, 7 % of women and men aged 18–22 had experi-enced forced intercouse, and almost half of all women’s nonvoluntary experiences had occurred before age 14.3 Even when women perceive their first sexual intercourse as having been volun-tary, age differences between young women and their partners may imply im-balances in control over the experience. Augmenting what we currently know about sexual initiation with additional in-formation on its wantedness is especially important in light of growing public con-cern about sexual victimization and teenage pregnancy