Shocking CDC reports reveals American teen girls caught in ‘overwhelming wave of violence and trauma’, 1 in 10 say they have been raped
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: A new report by the Centers for Disease Control said that the "overwhelming wave of violence and trauma" on young women has considerably increased the level of hopelessness and suicidal thoughts among America's young women, on Monday, February 14. "Our teenage girls are suffering through an overwhelming wave of violence and trauma, and it’s affecting their mental health," said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health on Monday, February 13.
According to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over one in three high school girls reported in 2021 having seriously pondered suicide, an increase of about 60% from ten years prior. It was the first time since the CDC started keeping track of it that more teenage girls — nearly 15% — told researchers they had to have sex against their will in the past two years. "As a parent to a teenage girl, I am heartbroken. As a public health leader, I’m driven to act," Dr. Debra Houry, chief medical officer of the CDC, stated during a notably emotional press event, reported NBC News.
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Girls are faring more poorly than boys
Over 17.232 US high school students responded to the survey, which is conducted every other year for the past 30 years. More than 40% of boys and girls reported feeling hopeless or depressed over the past year, preventing them from engaging in their usual activities, such as academics or sports. In a study examining gender disparities, researchers found that girls reported these sensations far more frequently than boys. "It was so striking to us, the consistency with which girls were faring more poorly than boys," Ethier said.
Teens who identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or questioning reported struggling with their mental health in at least 52% of cases. LGBTQ kids "experience much more interpersonal stress from schools, from peers and from home, unfortunately," Julie Cerel, a licensed psychologist and director of the Suicide Prevention & Exposure Lab at the University of Kentucky, told NBC News. In the previous year, 22% of such kids, or more than 1 in 5 of them, made an attempt at suicide, according to the CDC survey. Teenagers who identify as LGBTQ+ often suffer from poor mental health due to stigma and assault.
The CDC report's sobering conclusion was that violent behavior had dramatically increased and was now increasingly targeting females in particular. This month, Adriana Kuch, 14, who was attacked as she went down a high school corridor in New Jersey, brought one such attack to public notice. According to Kuch's father, a video of the event was shared online in an effort to "make fun" of her. After a few days, Kuch committed suicide.
According to the CDC, sexual violence has also become more prevalent among females, with 1 in 5 reporting so in the previous year. One in 14 people admitted to being coerced into having sex. This is an increase from the 11% of teenage females who claimed to have experienced sexual assault in 2019. "For every 10 teenage girls you know, at least one of them, and probably more, has been raped," Ethier stated at the briefing. As an emergency room physician, Houry treated a sexually assaulted college student on Monday. "She was embarrassed and thought she hadn’t done enough to stop it," Houry shared.
'I just keep moving forward'
Many Reddit users shared their opinions, and experiences on this devastating report and someone even confessed the point when they also thought about suicide, "I've been struggling bad as of late. The world is just outright hostile, I don't see a light at the tunnel, and I feel like every day I'm doing a cost analysis on if the resources it takes to keep me alive are worth it lol" a user wrote. "I've talked about this before here but in the last 5 years I lost my Mom, my Sister and then my Grandma to suicide. Almost myself. But I'm here and I know it's important for me to stay so I just keep moving forward. Sending you peace and hope. We don't have to be anything more than just existing," another user shared how she kept going even after experiencing many traumatic incidents, "I've been involved in distributing scholarships to high school students. More than one recipient has jokingly-but-seriously asked me what the point even was." another stated. "I'm a college student, and the amount of times going home from classes for the day thinking "I could just f*****g kill myself. Who'd care?" before parsing that I still have my family is way higher than I can count," another user chimed in. "I have two teenage girls. They are both in therapy. I feel so bad sometimes because the world just seems so much shittier today than it was when I was their age", one devastated parent added. Some other user commented, "The debt issue is a concern for many, I'm sure. However, this article states that a rise in sexual assault and physical violence against young women, in particular, is likely the primary cause of their increased sense of hopelessness."