RAPE-RELATED PREGNANCY - ESTIMATES AND DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERISTICS FROM A NATIONAL SAMPLE OF WOMEN

OBJECTIVE: We attempted to determine the national rape-related pregnan cy rate and provide descriptive characteristics of pregnancies that re sult from rape. STUDY DESIGN: A national probability sample of 4008 ad ult American women look part in a 3-year longitudinal survey that asse ssed the prevalence and incidence of rape and related physical and men tal health outcomes. RESULTS: The national rape-related pregnancy rate is 5.0% per rape among victims of reproductive age (aged 12 to 45); a mong adult women an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year. Among 34 cases of rape-related pregnancy, the majority occurred among adolescents and resulted from assault by a known, often related perpetrator. Only 11.7% of these victims received immediate medical a ttention after the assault, and 47.1% received no medical attention re lated to the rape. A total 32.4% of these Victims did not discover the y were pregnant until they had already entered the second trimester; 3 2.2% opted to keep the infant whereas 50% underwent abortion and 5.9% placed the infant for adoption; an additional 11.8% had spontaneous ab ortion. CONCLUSIONS: Rape-related pregnancy occurs with significant fr equency. It is a cause of many unwanted pregnancies and is closely lin ked with family and domestic violence. As we address the epidemic of u nintended pregnancies in the United States, greater attention and effo rt should be aimed al preventing and identifying unwanted pregnancies that result from sexual victimization.