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Virginity pledges (or abstinence pledges) are commitments made by teenagers and young adults to refrain from sexual intercourse until marriage. They are most common in the United States, especially among Evangelical Christian denominations. The efficacy of virginity pledges has been extensively studied. Some studies have found that virginity pledges may be effective at delaying vaginal intercourse, but that they are ineffective in reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) because pledgers may replace vaginal intercourse with other sexual activities, such as oral sex and anal sex;〔〔 other research, however, has suggested no such substitution among pledgers, though pledgers may partake in vaginal or oral sex.〔 Virginity pledges may also reduce the likelihood of contraceptive use once pledgers decide to engage in sex.〔 Though studies have reported this and found that pledgers are more likely to remain virgins by age 25 than those who do not pledge and that those who do become sexually active report fewer sexual partners,〔〔 at least one study found no difference in the sexual behavior of pledgers and non-pledgers after controlling for pre-existing differences between the groups.〔 ==History== The first virginity pledge program was True Love Waits, started in 1993 by the Southern Baptist Convention,〔(LifeWay: True Love Waits )〕 which now claims over 2.5 million pledgers worldwide in dozens of countries.〔(Baptist Press - True Love Waits launches community-wide initiative - News with a Christian Perspective )〕 A torrent of virginity pledge programs followed. Another prominent virginity pledge program was the Silver Ring Thing (SRT) which started in 1995 has been featured in hundreds of media reports worldwide. In 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services because it believed SRT used tax dollars to promote Christianity.〔(American Civil Liberties Union : ACLU of Massachusetts v. Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services )〕 SRT presented a two-part program, the first part about abstinence; the second about how the Christian faith fits into an abstinence commitment. The ACLU claimed federal funding given to this program violated the separation of Church and State. On August 22, the department suspended SRT's $75,000 federal grant until it submitted a "corrective action plan." In 2006, a corrective action plan was accepted by the department, the lawsuit was dismissed and SRT received its Federal Funding. Virginity pledge programs take a variety of stances on the role of religion in the pledge: some use religion to motivate the pledge, putting Biblical quotes on the cards, while others use statistics and arguments to motivate the pledge. Advocacy of virginity pledges is often coupled with support for abstinence-only sex education in public schools. Advocates argue that any other type of sexual education would promote sex outside of marriage, which they hold to be immoral and risky. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「virginity pledge」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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