Shocking youth sex stats
Pretoria - Misconceptions about sexual violence are rife among South African youth.
This is evident from new results stemming from a study conducted two years ago among more than a half a million South African pupils aged between 10 and 19 from more than 5 100 schools.
According to the study, undertaken by the non-governmental organisation Cietafrica, 11% of boys and 14% of girls acknowledged they had forced another party to have sex.
The majority of these youths (approximately 65.8%) also confessed they were earlier forced to have sex themselves.
This suggests a history of forced sex, increasing the risk of HIV among children.
According to the study, 15.8% of teenagers said they would have unprotected sex, and 15.7% said they would deliberately spread the virus.
Only 57.1% of respondents thought condoms could prevent pregnancy, while 49.8% thought they prevented sexually transmitted diseases.
12% believe virgin-sex myth (la croyance selon laquelle avoir une relation sexuelle avec une personne vierge guérit du Sida. C'est la cause de nombreux viols de bébés en Afrique du Sud - ndlr)
About 59% said condoms could prevent the transmission of HIV/Aids.
Sixty percent of respondents said they were planning to have an Aids test.
Further, 15.7% of boys and 14.4% of girls said they would not tell their families if they did prove to be HIV-positive.
One of the most-shocking findings was that 33% of respondents thought they already were HIV-positive, despite the fact that half the group was not yet sexually active when the survey was done.
No less than 12% of respondents said they believed sex with a virgin could cure Aids. This response was especially prevalent in rural areas.
Dr Neil Andersson, head of Cietinternational and Cietafrica, said the fact that it was common for school-going children to be exposed to sexual violence was one of the most shocking findings of the research.
He felt that educational programmes aimed at enlightening pupils about Aids were bearing fruit, and that these pupils proved to be more informed than the average South African.
Andersson said one of the country's greatest challenges was to ensure that children were not exposed to "mixed" messages about HIV/Aids.
"Children have the right not to be abused, and they have to get a clear message."
He said sexual abuse occurred across all colour and language barriers and was an extension of a violent society.
According to Andersson, the children's intention to deliberately transmit Aids stemmed from their feelings that their lives were worthless.
He said it was time for the community, schools, churches and government to realise that Aids was everyone's problem and that they had to start co-operating to fight the Aids pandemic.
Pretoria - Misconceptions about sexual violence are rife among South African youth.
This is evident from new results stemming from a study conducted two years ago among more than a half a million South African pupils aged between 10 and 19 from more than 5 100 schools.
According to the study, undertaken by the non-governmental organisation Cietafrica, 11% of boys and 14% of girls acknowledged they had forced another party to have sex.
The majority of these youths (approximately 65.8%) also confessed they were earlier forced to have sex themselves.
This suggests a history of forced sex, increasing the risk of HIV among children.
According to the study, 15.8% of teenagers said they would have unprotected sex, and 15.7% said they would deliberately spread the virus.
Only 57.1% of respondents thought condoms could prevent pregnancy, while 49.8% thought they prevented sexually transmitted diseases.
12% believe virgin-sex myth (la croyance selon laquelle avoir une relation sexuelle avec une personne vierge guérit du Sida. C'est la cause de nombreux viols de bébés en Afrique du Sud - ndlr)
About 59% said condoms could prevent the transmission of HIV/Aids.
Sixty percent of respondents said they were planning to have an Aids test.
Further, 15.7% of boys and 14.4% of girls said they would not tell their families if they did prove to be HIV-positive.
One of the most-shocking findings was that 33% of respondents thought they already were HIV-positive, despite the fact that half the group was not yet sexually active when the survey was done.
No less than 12% of respondents said they believed sex with a virgin could cure Aids. This response was especially prevalent in rural areas.
Dr Neil Andersson, head of Cietinternational and Cietafrica, said the fact that it was common for school-going children to be exposed to sexual violence was one of the most shocking findings of the research.
He felt that educational programmes aimed at enlightening pupils about Aids were bearing fruit, and that these pupils proved to be more informed than the average South African.
Andersson said one of the country's greatest challenges was to ensure that children were not exposed to "mixed" messages about HIV/Aids.
"Children have the right not to be abused, and they have to get a clear message."
He said sexual abuse occurred across all colour and language barriers and was an extension of a violent society.
According to Andersson, the children's intention to deliberately transmit Aids stemmed from their feelings that their lives were worthless.
He said it was time for the community, schools, churches and government to realise that Aids was everyone's problem and that they had to start co-operating to fight the Aids pandemic.
posted by Dr Philippe Maslo at 10:53
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