STREET CHILDREN
North America

OMAHA WORLD HERALD
7 August 1995

AN IGNORED LAW: STATUTORY RAPE

The results of a study done by the Alan Guttmacher Institute indicate that at least half of the babies born to teen-age girls are fathered by adults. Have these men no sense? Have they no shame?

Researchers said the study was the most comprehensive of its kind. Nearly 10,000 mothers between the ages of 15 and 49 were interviewed from 1989 to 1991. Researchers found that half of the babies born to mothers between ages 15 and 17 were fathered by men who were 20 or older. Generally, the younger a mother was, the greater the age difference between her and her baby's father.

In California, a survey of 47,000 births to teen-age mothers in 1993 indicated that two-thirds of the babies were fathered by men of post-high-school age.

Disregarding the moral aspects of mature men sexually exploiting teen-age girls, there is a legal problem in some cases. It's known as statutory rape. The law wisely recognizes that young girls--and boys, for the matter--aren't as mature in their thinking and feelings as adults. Therefore, to seduce a person under a certain age when the seducer is above a certain age is a crime, whether the victim willingly participated or not. The ages vary from state to state. In many cases, a man 19 or older is guilty of statutory rape if he has sex with a girl 15 or younger.

The Guttmacher study has implications for the campaign to reduce the number of teen-age pregnancies. If so many teen-age girls' partners are adults, then some educational programs and anti-pregnancy campaigns are misdirected.

Moreover, stricter enforcement of the statutory rape laws may be needed. Certainly the Guttmacher study is a setback for the view that teen-age pregnancies are due mostly to teen-age hormones and immature kids who give in too easily to peer pressure or curiosity. The problem of youthful pregnancies, it turns out, is much more complex. And much more appalling.

Copyright 1995, Omaha World Herald.

***

From the Congressional Record, 8 Aug 95:

MR. KERREY: Mr. President, the Omaha World Herald is a conservative newspaper, one that all of us in Nebraska at least are familiar with if not read on a regular basis, and in yesterday's editorial they discussed an issue that is very relevant to the question of why are teenagers having children.

The headline for the editorial is `An Ignored Law: Statutory Rape,' and the first paragraph references a study done by the Alan Guttmacher Institute which indicated that at least half of the babies born to teenaged girls are fathered by adults.

It goes on to describe that 10,000 mothers between the ages of 15 and 49 were interviewed between 1989 and 1991, and researchers found that half the babies born to mothers between ages 15 and 17 were fathered by men who were 20 or older, and generally the younger a mother was the greater the age differences between her and her baby's father. And the editorial goes on to describe, I think correctly, the need for increased vigilance by law enforcement people on the situation of statutory rape, I think a quite relevant and appropriate response given the analysis done by the Guttmacher Institute.

The Guttmacher Institute did not say that these young girls were having babies as a consequence of seeing a financial incentive.


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