Violence and sexual risk taking reported by young people at Swedish youth clinics

Abstract

Background: Early identification of sexual risk taking and exposure to violence is fundamental when seeking to strengthen young people’s health. The purpose of this study was to study factors associated with sexual risk taking and ill health, as well as to study gender differences, and the associations amongst exposure to multiple forms of violence, sexual risk taking and ill health.
 Methods: This was a cross-sectional study based on data from 3,205 young people answering a questionnaire belonging to the Sexual health Identification Tool (SEXIT 2.0), during consultations at 12 youth clinics in Sweden. The analyses are based on descriptive statistics and nominal multiple regression analysis.
 Results: Male, transgender and non-binary youths reported significantly more events of sexual risk taking and ill health compared to women. Those who reported sexual initiation before the age of 15 (OR 2.87, CI 1.81–4.56), three or more sexual partners in the past 12 months (OR 2.68, CI 1.70–4.22) and to have ever experienced an unintended pregnancy (OR 2.29, CI 1.32–3.97) were more than twice as likely to report exposure to physical, emotional and sexual violence. Transgender, non-binary youths and women were more exposed to multiple violence (OR 3.68, 13.50) compared to men.
 Conclusions: Transgender and non-binary youths are exposed to significantly more violence compared to women and men. Experiences of sexual risk taking and ill health demonstrated strong associations with exposure to multiple violence.

The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Autistic Experiences of Interpersonal Violence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Autistic transgender, non-binary, and genderqueer participants were signi cantly more likely to experience sexual violence than autistic cisgender males 37 , and reported severe gendered harassment, exclusion, and threats 92 . These ndings re ect those found among disabled 93,94 and general population research 50,95,96 indicating the heightened vulnerability of gender minorities across various forms of violence. Our ndings are preliminary, but concerning, and warrant further investigation into the nature and risk of violence among autistic gender marginalised groups.…”

Ask me, listen to me, treat me well and I shall tell: a qualitative study of Swedish youths’ experiences of systematic assessment of sexual health and risk-taking (SEXIT)

“…However, this shortcoming has been corrected in later versions (SEXIT 2.0 and 3.0). 11,35 Future studies We suggest that future studies should focus on the care and support offered to youth clinic visitors identified as at risk of sexual ill health, the clinical effectiveness of the measures, and how they are perceived and valued by the youth clinic visitors themselves. Exploring healthcare professionals' experiences of using the SEXIT tool kit would also contribute important knowledge.…”

Identifying sexual risk‐taking and ill health in the meeting with young people‐experiences of using an assessment tool

“…The phenomenon of sexual risk‐taking and ill health is an urgent issue in Sweden [ 14 , 15 , 16 ] as previous studies report a high prevalence of sexual violence in early adolescence among all genders [ 15 ], but especially among women [ 14 , 16 , 17 ] and transgender young people [ 16 ]. In a Swedish report, women (9.4%) reported experiences of a sexual crime significantly more often than men (1.4%) in 2019 [ 14 ].…”

“…In addition, male and transgender young people visiting youth clinics report more events of sexual risk‐taking such as multiple sexual partners [ 16 ], and there are also reports of increasing rates of gonorrhoea infections in the youth population [ 18 ]. Overall, this demonstrates a need for knowledge to understand how complex issues such as exposure to violence and experiences of multiple sex partners can be addressed and to identify young people in need of support and care.…”