Intro | Gender | Diversity | Further Reading | References

Introduction

Key statistics which demonstrate how gender impacts on women’s sexual and reproductive health are detailed below. Information regarding how diverse groups of women experience sexual and reproductive health are also available. For access to a range of sex disaggregated data sources regarding sexual and reproductive health, click on the Indicators in the left-hand menu.

Gender

• In 2009, Australia's total fertility rate was 1.90 babies per woman, a small decrease from 1.96 babies per woman in 2008 [1].
• Fertility rates are highest for women aged 30 to 34 years, recording 124 babies per 1,000 women [1].
• The median age of all mothers is 30.6 years, while the median age of fathers is 33.0 years [1].
• The teenage fertility rate is 17 babies per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 years. Victoria recorded the lowest teenage fertility rates in Australia (10 babies per 1,000 women) [1].
• Young women delay seeking prescription contraception for an average of one year after first having sex, and half of adolescent pregnancies occur during the first six months of sexual activity [2]. 
• Adolescents are the most frequent users of emergency contraception at Australian Family Planning clinics [2]. 
• Australian men use condoms 41% of the time when having casual sex- less with excessive alcohol consumption [3].
• Young men (61%) are more likely than young women (46%) to always use condoms when having sex [4].
• It is more common for young women (91%) to seek advice regarding sexual health than it is for young men (82%) [4].
• Worldwide, young women are at risk of unsafe and often forced sexual activity, which puts them at risk of unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection, and unsafe abortion [5].
• 10% of Australian women report being sexually coerced prior to the age of 16 years [6].
• The oral contraceptive pill was the most commonly used method of contraception at each survey of the 1973 to 1978 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health [7]. Within this cohort, the majority of women aspire to having children [7].
• The notification rate for chlamydia in women is 322.8 per 100,000 population [8] . This represents an increase of 10% since 2007 [8].
• Rates of chlamydia in women markedly exceed those in men, especially in people aged 15 to 24 years [8].
• Rates of gonorrhoea for women exceed those for men among people aged 10 to 19 years of age [8].
• 11.9% of newly acquired hepatitis C cases in women result from sexual contact [8].

Women with disabilities

• Physicians are often unable or unwilling to assist women with a disability with pregnancy information [9]. 
• Although fertility is generally not disrupted for women with disabilities, contraceptive options are sometimes limited. For example, women with quadriplegia are unable to insert diaphragms and some medical conditions associated with a disability can make use of the contraceptive pill less safe [10].
• A woman with a disability who chooses to have a child may encounter prejudice from some people who have a perception that a person with a disability is non-sexual or not capable of having a relationship or caring for a child [10].

Aborignal and Torres Strait Islander women

• Women from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds account for 10.6% of all chlamydia cases diagnosed among women [11].
• 24.7% of all gonorrhoea cases are diagnosed among Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women [11].
• In 5% of all births, at least one parent identifies themselves as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin [1].
• In 2009, the total fertility rate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women increased to 2.57 babies per woman, up from 2.52 babies per woman in 2008 [1].
• Births to teenage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (2,400 births) account for 21% of all births to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women (11,500 births) [1].

Same-sex attracted women

• Samesex attracted young women are more likely to identify as bisexual (42%) than lesbian (39%) [12].
• 10% of the 15 to 18 year old young samesex women have been pregnant (twice the rate of their heterosexual peers) [12].
• Young samesex attracted women (74%) are more likely to have had sex in the past two years compared to young men (69%) [12].
• Despite their sexual attraction, one in five young samesex attracted young women continue to have sex exclusively with the opposite sex [12].

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