Rape among mexican youth and young adults

Abstract

Rape disproportionately affects women and men between the ages of 12 and 24. Using data obtained from the National Longitudinal Youth Survey (ENAJUV, 2010), this study aims to present the prevalence and factors associated with rape among these populations. The results indicated that 2.9 percent of sexually initiated youth and young adults between the ages of 12 to 29 reported having been forced to engage in sexual intercourse at least once in their lives. The multivariate analysis indicates that rape among young adults, but particularly among youth is shaped by social inequalities of gender, generation, ethnic-race affiliation (for example) which structure individual-level experiences, cultural representations, rape scripts and state and institutional responses. These findings are discussed within the context of the social construction of accessible gendered bodies and sexuality in the Mexican context, and within the framework of rape supportive culture and normative heterosexuality prevailing in this country.