First-time sex: For some girls it happens without protection–and without consent

Cara at The Curvature reports on a (not-yet-peer-reviewed) study that claims girls take more chances during first sex, that is, are less likely to use birth control. Which has researchers confused, since they say boys are more likely to engage in risky behavior. Huh? Are you shaking your head at this simplistic logic? So is Laura Lindberg, senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute:

"...boys may still have a lot to do with it. She said teenage girls are less likely than boys to want to have sex when it happens for the first time and may not do as good a job advocating for birth control. Lindberg added that contraception at first sex is 80 percent condoms, meaning birth control largely depends on the boy."

No kidding. The Curvature goes on to point out a statistic I wasn't aware of: "10% of young women's first intercourse is involuntary. "In other words, they are raped. As Cara writes:

I can’t quite wrap my head around that. We’re talking about young women being raped, and calling it risky behavior. We’re talking about young women being raped, and asking questions about condom use. We’re talking about young women being raped, and the biggest concern at the front of our minds is about STDs. We’re talking about young women being raped, and we’re asking why they don’t know any better?

As Cara points out, every sex ed curriculum should include a serious discussion about what consensual sex means, and we're not doing that at all. I strongly encourage you to read the rest of her excellent post here.