International Women's Health Coalition - Teens Take Virginity Pledges

Teens Take Virginity Pledges - And Then Have Sex?

January 14, 2009

Guest blog by Chelsea Ricker, Program Assistant, Africa. Originally posted on RHRealityCheck.org.

In the January issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, there's a new study from Janet Rosenbaum of Johns Hopkins University about the effects of virginity pledges on sexual behavior.

So how do these commitments to abstain until marriage affect sexual behavior? Do teens who pledge to abstain have less sex than their compatriots? Nope. Do they wait longer to have sex? Nope. So what's the effect? Teens who take virginity pledges are significantly less likely to use the Pill or condoms than their non-pledging peers...

Full blog available here on the RHRealityCheck.org website.

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