|
Forum 5, Geneva 9-12 October 2001 The 10/90 gap in health research: assessing the progress |
| back | |
| Parallel session on Preventing risky sexual behaviour among young people: findings from social and behavioural research |
|
Programmes imparting life skills and sexuality education, do they work? : lessons from South Africa |
|
Rachel Jewkes, Director, Gender & Health Group, Medical Research Council, South Africa |
The implementation of effective programmes to enhance the sexual and reproductive health of young people in South Africa is one of the most pressing health issues in South Africa. At present 35% of young women become pregnant in their teenage years and the great majority of HIV cases are occurring in people under the age of 30. Recent research shows that levels of knowledge of AIDS and means of prevention are very high indeed, but there is a substantial gap between knowledge and practices. There are a constellation of factors which contribute to this gap. These include the impact of poverty, gender socialisation which emphasises male superiority, sexual entitlement and control of women, socialisation into patterns of behaviour which emphasise use of violence and non-respect for the rights of individuals, difficulties with communication in relationships, problems accessing sexual health services, and patterns of peer communication characterised by incomplete information and myths.
This presentation will provide a brief overview of research into the factors which are important in the sexual and reproductive health of youth. It will outline some of the programmatic implications of these, including the need for life skills and sexuality education that integrates issues of gender and respect for human rights into programmes, the need to provide communication and relationship skills, the need to build on existing patterns of peer communication and ensure that knowledge gaps and myths are addressed on their own terms, the need to improve acceptability of health services for adolescents and the need to enable adolescents to understand what shapes their sexual and relationship practices and risk taking even if many pertinent factors, such as poverty alleviation, lie outside the scope of SRH programmes. Lessons learned from successful approaches to life skills, particularly the Stepping Stones programme, and challenges in implementation will be discussed.