In many countries, sexual health is severely jeopardised by the simple fact that people are not willing to talk about. Young girls (and boys) do not know how to protect their wellness through safe sex practices, because they are not educated on the matter, have no access to contraceptives or sexual health advice, and cannot even ask family members for support because there is a serious taboo surrounding the issue.
One such young person is Thandi, a 16-year-old girl from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, who has recently given birth. She claims that the reason she fell pregnant was that she had no way to access condoms, but also, even if she had been able to access them, she would have not had the first clue about how to use them, having never been taught.
A recent news report has revealed that the sexual wellbeing of teenagers is not being considered, and that social taboos surrounding sex are allowed to take priority over the education and information that is vital to keep young people healthy.
Limited access to contraceptives is a huge part of the problem, leading to many teenage pregnancies. Pregnancy rates are thought to be around 54 per 1,000 schoolgirls, and the reasons behind these pregnancies range from inability to access contraceptives, inability to use contraceptives effectively due to lack of education, and the stigmatisation about accessing contraceptives. Teenagers said that they often did not go to get contraceptives, even when they were aware where to get them, because they were liable to be judged, lectured or even refused access to the contraceptives altogether.
A suggested method of improvement is for the further education of nurses, to bring their training up to date with modern thinking and allow them to advise teenagers on contraception, including emergency contraceptive measures, such as how to access and take the ‘morning after pill’ to prevent a pregnancy in the case where a contraceptive has failed or has not been used.
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