Relationship Abuse and Coercion Emerge as Overlooked Drivers of Adolescent Sexual Health, New Report of 95,000+ Young People Finds
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]
August 19, 2026 (SAN FRANCISCO, CA) — Relationship abuse and coercion are shaping adolescent sexual health decisions at a scale current programming is not designed to address, according to a new report drawing on data from more than 95,000 young people across all 50 states. The report comes from YLabs, a nonprofit that builds the proof that youth-designed solutions work at scale.
The report covers the first two years of Asking for a Friend, a free digital sexual and reproductive health platform co-designed with 300 young people in California. The platform combines a library of plain-language answers to the questions young people are too embarrassed to ask out loud, interactive quizzes that walk them through decisions like contraception or pregnancy options without steering them toward a biased answer, and a searchable directory of low-cost, confidential clinics. It launched in California in 2024 and reached young people in all 50 states without ever advertising outside the state.
Its most-used tool was not about contraception or STI testing. It was a quiz asking a single question: Is my relationship healthy? Of the more than 18,000 young people who took it, only 7% reported no signs of emotional or physical abuse. A third reported physical violence from a partner. More than a quarter reported that they had been pressured into sex when they didn't want to.
“Shame is the throughline. It decides what schools teach, what the healthcare system will touch, what families avoid, and what young people are left to figure out alone. We built a platform that gave them information with privacy and without bias or conditions. The top answer they went looking for was whether their relationship was healthy," said Katy Ashe, CEO of YLabs.
The young people who took this quiz likely came to it already wondering whether something was wrong. But the scale of what they reported, across more than 18,000 responses, finds that relationship abuse and coercion are shaping adolescent sexual health decisions at a scale that current programming is not designed to address.
The report surfaces two further patterns. Even in California, which has some of the strongest adolescent reproductive health protections in the country, young people did not know their rights. Most who sought care were eligible for it for free, and were going without or paying out of pocket, because no one had told them otherwise. And across the platform, from young people in crisis to those simply curious, the consistent desire was the same: room to weigh their own options without pressure or bias.
"Young people are not waiting for adults to tell them what to do. They are figuring out their bodies, their relationships, and their choices in a sea of conflicting information, and mostly on their own," explained Katy Ashe.
Getting this information in front of young people proved to be its own barrier. Paid social media reached them for a few cents per click, by far the most effective channel the team tried. It was also the least reliable. Ads on birth control and abortion were denied despite meeting published guidelines, the platform's accounts were suspended more than once, and approved ads were quietly never shown. The pattern of shadow banning is documented across the sector. The Center for Intimacy Justice's 2025 report found systematic removal of sexual and reproductive health content across Meta, TikTok, Google, and Amazon, affecting 159 organizations with users in 180 countries. The channels that reach young people most effectively are the same ones deciding what they are allowed to learn about their own bodies.
And yet, young people in all 50 states found Asking for a Friend, and those outside of California without any advertising. YLabs is expanding the platform nationally in September 2026 so that the rights, costs, and care options it surfaces match the needs of all young Americans, no matter their zip codes. The report closes with specific guidance for educators, healthcare providers, policymakers, and funders on what the findings ask of each of them.
The full report is available here.
About YLabs
YLabs is a youth-driven design and implementation nonprofit that helps large systems act on what young people know. We partner with young people, governments, and funders to research, co-create, test, and scale solutions that improve young people's health, livelihoods, and futures. Founded at the Harvard Innovation Lab in 2014, we have worked across 18 countries. Learn more at ylabsglobal.org.
For more information, please contact:
Emily Worrall
Marketing and Communications Director
emily.worrall@ylabsglobal.org
