TEEN RAPE CUTS across class, racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, religious, and geographic boundaries. No one is immune from the risk of rape. Some teens, however, are at greater risk than others. Researchers have identified several interrelated factors that increase vulnerability both to the risk of raping and being raped. Of these factors, family dynamics play a pivotal role.

The impact of childhood abuse

One of the most striking findings in the research literature is the link between childhood sexual abuse and the risk of continued and repeated sexual victimization as an adolescent and adult. Why is this so? Experiencing sexual abuse is devastating to a child's developing sense of self and sexual esteem and often leads to depression and to a host of self-destructive behaviors, including substance abuse and premature sexual experimentation and promiscuity. Drug and alcohol use and...