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Teen pregnancy remains a pressing issue in western North Carolina, but what’s often overlooked is its close connection to teen dating violence.
While North Carolina’s overall teen birth rate in 2022 was 12.5 per 1,000 females aged 15-19, counties like Graham (36.7), Swain (31.4), and Cherokee (28.9) have rates more than double the state average.
At the same time, national data from the CDC shows that 1 in 11 girls report experiencing physical dating violence, and abused teens are twice as likely to become pregnant. This link isn’t coincidental.
Abuse in teen relationships often includes reproductive coercion, where one partner pressures or manipulates the other into pregnancy by sabotaging birth control or refusing protection. Emotional manipulation, fear and isolation also reduce a teen’s ability to make safe, informed choices.
In western North Carolina, these issues are compounded by limited access to reproductive healthcare, abstinence-only education and cultural stigma around both sex and abuse. In many communities, early pregnancy may be accepted – even normalized – while dating violence remains hidden.
Programs like Reach are vital in bridging these gaps, providing trauma-informed support and education to empower teens and help them recognize abuse before it leads to long-term consequences.
If we want to lower teen pregnancy rates, we must address the root causes, including the violence that too often lies behind them.
Cecilia Crawford-Faulkner is executive director of Reach of Cherokee & Graham
Counties. Call 828-837-2097; email director@reachofcherokeecounty.org; or visit reachofcherokeecounty.org.