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Across the United States, young people are at risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV. Georgia’s teen pregnancy rate is higher than the national average, and young minority women living in the state have disproportionately high birth rates. Men who have sex with men are at the highest risk for HIV in Georgia, and African American women suffer at rates vastly disproportionate to population. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are also a growing problem. Because the risk for negative sexual health outcomes is a reality, comprehensive sexuality education and access to contraception are more important than ever to the health of Georgia’s youth.

Georgia’s Youth Population is Diverse and Growing

• Of Georgia’s population of over nine million people, more than a quarter are under age 18; over a million youth ages 15-24 live in Georgia.
• Sixty-five percent of Georgians are white, 29 percent African American/black, and two percent Asian, while five percent are of Hispanic/Latino origin.
• Georgia’s Hispanic/Latino population has quadrupled since 1990.[1]

Georgia’s Youth Are At Risk for Negative Sexual Health Outcomes

• There are over 152,000 sexually active teenagers in Georgia.[2]
• Georgia’s teen pregnancy (young women ages 15-19) rate is 95 pregnancies per 1000 young women, higher than the national rate of 84 pregnancies per 1000.[3]
• Between 1991-2005, Georgia’s teen birth rate dropped by 31 percent, slightly less than the nationwide drop of 34 percent.[2]
• Among the states Georgia has the 7th highest number of people living with HIV or AIDS; over 24,000 Georgians are living with HIV or AIDS.[4] Youth are affected by the epidemic - in 2004, fifteen percent of new HIV cases were in youth ages 13-24.[4] And according to Georgia’s Division of Public Health, infection rates among teenagers are rising as compared to previous years.
• Georgia’s HIV epidemic is shifting from urban areas to rural areas and small towns, where young people may find it even more difficult to access condoms and sexual health services.[4]
• Nationwide, young people ages 15-24 acquire almost half of the nation’s 19 million STIs each year. Georgia’s STI rates are among the highest in the nation.
  • In 2005, Georgia reported over 33,000 cases of Chlamydia and had the 14th highest Chlamydia rate in the United States.[5]
  • In the same year Georgia had the 6th highest gonorrhea rate, with almost 16,000 cases.[5]
  • In 2005, Georgia had the highest rate for secondary and primary syphilis of any state, with 645 cases.[5]

Social Factors Put Racial and Sexual Minority Youth At Risk

• In the regional south of the United States, cultural factors including poverty, unemployment, and racial inequities put young people of color at particular risk for negative sexual health outcomes, including teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, and HIV.[6,7,8] African Americans and Latinos in Georgia are more than twice as likely to live below the poverty line as whites.[9]
  • Between 1990 and 2005 most racial/ethnic groups showed a drop in teen birth rates. But for young Hispanic women, the teen birth rate nearly doubled (an increase of 98 percent) between 1990-2005. Young Hispanic women were four times as likely to give birth as young white women.[2]
  • Although African Americans make up less than a third of Georgia’s population, 44 percent of the teen births in Georgia were to young African American women.[2]
  • African Americans make up 30 percent of Georgia’s population but suffered from 75 percent of new AIDS cases in 2005.[4]
  • In 1984 women accounted for only four percent of Georgia’s AIDS cases; by 2004 they accounted for 24 percent.[4] Each year since 2001, African American women in Georgia have been at least ten times as likely to contract HIV as white women; nationwide, young women of color accounted for 84 percent of all reported HIV infections among 13-24 year old women in 2004.[10] Of women who specified a risk factor, 68 percent of HIV positive women in Georgia acquired the virus through heterosexual intercourse.[4]
• GLBTQ youth in Georgia are marginalized and at risk for HIV.
  • Of HIV positive men who specified a risk factor, 67 percent of men in Georgia acquired the virus from male-to-male transmission.[4] Nationwide, including in the regional south, HIV rates for young men ages 13-24 who have sex with men have risen. African Americans in this category experienced the sharpest rise, with rates up by 74 percent between 2001-2005.
  • Over half of GLBTQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning) youth in Georgia have been bullied and eighty percent have heard homophobic slurs from other students.[1]

Georgia’s Abstinence-Only Programs Ignore the Reality of Teenagers’ Lives

• While Georgia law requires that abstinence be taught, the law allows, but does not require, programs to discuss condoms and other contraception.[12]
• In 2006 Georgia received over $9 million in funds for federal abstinence-only programs, including $2.68 million in Title V funds and $6.44 million in CBAE (Community-Based Abstinence Education) funds.10 In Fiscal Year 2007 Georgia received an additional over $1 million in funds to new CBAE grantees.[13]
• Federally funded abstinence-only programs, including the ones used in Georgia, cannot include information about the health benefits of contraception and condoms for sexually active youth and must teach that sex outside of marriage is likely to have harmful physical and psychological effects. Abstinence-only programs also must emphasize marriage as the only appropriate context for sex. At their worst they promote homophobia and at their best they totally ignore the needs of GLBTQ youth.[10]
• Recent research on abstinence-only programs has found them ineffective, with no impact on reducing teen pregnancy, delaying sexual initiation, or reducing STIs.[14,15]
• Recent research on comprehensive sexuality education has shown that young people who receive complete and accurate information about abstinence, condoms, and contraception were not more likely to have sex or acquire an STI, but were significantly less likely to be involved in teen pregnancy.[15]

Conclusion

Georgia’s youth are at serious risk for pregnancy, HIV, and STIs; youth of color and GLBTQ youth are at disproportionate risk for negative sexual health outcomes. Research shows that comprehensive sexuality education and access to contraceptive services can help young people protect their health and well-being. Further, there are a number of culturally relevant science-based programs than can successfully assist youth of color to reduce sexual risk taking.[16,17]

References

1. U.S. Census Bureau Public Information Office. “Census 2000 Data for the State of Georgia.” Accessed from http://www.census.gov/census2000/states/ga.html on March 1, 2008.
2. Guttmacher Institute. “Contraception Counts:Georgia.” Accessed from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/state_data/states/georgia.html on April 08, 2008.
3. National Campaign to End Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. “State Profile: Georgia.” Accessed from http://thenationalcampaign.org/state-data/state-profile.aspx?state=georgia on March 1, 2008.
4. Georgia Community Planning Group. Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan, 2008. State of Georgia, 2008. Accessed from http://health.state.ga.us/pdfs/epi/hivstd/HIV%20Comprehensive%20Plan%202008%20.pdf
5. Georgia Department of Human Resources. “Sexually Transmitted Diseases.” Accessed from http://health.state.ga.us/pdfs/prevention/std/STDFactSheet-rev12-18-06.pdf on March 3, 2008
6. Alan Guttmacher Institute. Teenage Pregnancy and the Welfare Reform Debate. [Issues in Brief]. New York: The Institute, 1998.
7. Adaora, A. “HIV and African Americans in the United States” Sexual Networks and Social Context.” Sexually Transmitted Diseases, 33(7): 2006.
8. Farley, TA. “Sexually transmitted diseases in the Southeastern United States: Location, Race, and Social Context.” Sexually Transmitted Diseases 2006, 33(7 Suppl): s58-s64.
9. U.S. Census Bureau Public Information Office. “Census 2000 Data for the State of Georgia.” Accessed from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-state=st&-context=st&-qr_name=ACS_2006
   _EST_G00_S1701&-ds_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_&-tree_id=306&-redoLog=true&-_caller =geoselect
   &-geo_id=04000US13&-format=&-_lang=en
10. Cases of HIV Infection and AIDS in the United States, by Race/Ethnicity, 2000-2004. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Supplemental Report, 2006: 12(1).
11. Kosciw JG et al. From Teasing to Torment: A Report on School Climate in Georgia. GLSEN, 2006. Accessed from http://www.glsen.org/binary-data/GLSEN_ATTACHMENTS/file/000/000/695-1.pdf on April 8, 2008.
12. SIECUS Public Policy Office. “State Profile: Georgia.” Sexuality Education and Information Council of the United States, 2007. Accessed from http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&parentID=487&grandparentID=478&
    pageId=539 on March 1, 2008.
13. Family Youth and Services Bureau. “Discretionary Grant Programs.” Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008. Accessed from http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/fysb/content/docs/07_grantawards
    .pdf on March 1, 2008.
14. Trenholm et al. Impacts of Four Title V, Section 510 Abstinence Education Programs. Princeton: Mathematica Policy Research, 2007. Accessed from http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/PDFs/impactabstinence.pdf on April 15, 2008.
15. Kohler et al. “Abstinence-only and Comprehensive Sex Education and the Initiation of Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy.” Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4): 344-351.
16. Kirby D. Emerging Answers 2007. Washington, DC: The National Campaign, 2007 to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Accessed from http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/EA2007/EA2007_sum.pdf on March 1, 2008.
17. Alford S. Science and Success: Sex Education and Other Programs That Work to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, HIV & Sexually Transmitted Infections. Washington, DC: Advocates for Youth, 2003.

Written by Emily Bridges, MLS
2008 © Advocates for Youth