ABSTRACT
Class can be a key factor in oppression. The social class into which a person is born determines the likelihood of entrance into homelessness, unemployment, drug use, survival sex and prostitution, and even more serious delinquent and criminal acts. In adolescence, girls brought up in rough neighborhoods and with few privileges are at high risk of chronic school failure, of lack of educational goals beyond high school, to experience higher rates of physical and sexual abuse, to deal with pregnancy and motherhood, to be involved in drug and alcohol dependency, to confront the risk of AIDS, and to lack supportive networks at home. The tendency is to think about gender, class, and race as additive in their impact so that they are calculated in terms of gender plus class plus race. The consequences of the sexual violation of women across the spectrum may range from personal embarrassment to psychological and physical wounding.
