Voluntarism and Marriage

Pregnancy and Childbirth:
Intention and Reality

The Principle of Non-Coercion

Violence against Women

Young people are particularly vulnerable, and at the same time ill-served by (or excluded from) most reproductive health programmes. Both girls and boys are usually poorly informed about how to prevent pregnancy and the transmission of diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Teenage mothers have a higher-than-average risk of dying in childbirth, and their children die more frequently also.

But the growing number of adolescents who are having babies or unsafe abortions is due also in part to poverty and poor education. Poor young women and girls the world over are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse, violence, and prostitution.

Early sexual activity: The start of sexual activity, marriage, and motherhood are now more sepa rate than ever before. Improvements in nutrition mean girls reach menarche at earlier ages. At the same time, the average age at marriage has gone up. Particularly in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, however, many girls still marry young and begin childbearing early.

Premarital sex, though condemned in most soci eties (at least for girls), is on the rise in much of the world. In many industrialized countries, young people frequently commence to have sex in their mid- to late teens but do not marry until their twenties. Some of these countries have high rates of adolescent pregnancy and young unwed mothers. More sex education has reduced the number of unintended pregnancies in other industrialized countries.

In some areas, girls are initiated sexually even before they reach puberty. In Malawi, for exam ple, over half of 300 teenage village girls in a sur vey said they had had sex before menarche. The percentage of prepubescent girls thus initiated varies greatly from place to place, however. Those who report being sexually active before age 15 range from less than 2 per cent in Burundi to more than one third in Liberia. In Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 18.7 per cent of women under age 20 and 27.6 per cent of men report first intercourse before age 16.

Most adolescents, though, are not engaging in premarital sexual relations. Those who do, including the sizeable number who are forced or coerced by older partners, are at greater risk of pregnancy and disease. They are usually too embarrassed to use contraception: taking such precautions is often felt to reflect premeditation rather than spontaneity.

Knowledge about sexuality and contraception: Adolescents everywhere complain of the unwill ingness of adults to teach them about reproduc tion, sexuality, family planning, and reproductive health. Parents are uncomfortable talking about it, and the young people turn to their ill-informed peers--with predictable results.

The myth still persists that sex education leads to promiscuity. But the opposite is true: It has been repeatedly shown that sex education leads to responsible behaviour, higher levels of abstinence, later initiation of sexuality, higher use of contraception, and fewer sexual partners. These good effects are even greater when the parents can talk honestly with their children as well.

Such talks are unusual in most societies. In the United States, for instance, fewer than one in three girls and one in six boys discuss these concerns with either parent.

Family life education (FLE) has been part of the curriculum in many countries, but all too many have forbidden discussion of contraception or even reproductive physiology. Teachers' discom fort with these subjects, opposition from some traditionalists and religious groups, fear of par ents' criticism, and difficulty in setting priorities can all cause problems.

FLE can help dispel myths and misinformation if it is allowed to cover all the subjects needed to fully inform young people about their sexuality. When the benefits of doing so are understood, parents and communities work with their youth to bring this about.

Rights of adolescents and parents: Most parents want to protect and guide their children, but none want to give them a free rein to do what ever they please. The rights of both parties must be acknowledged and balanced. The rights of the adolescent, however, have only recently been legally recognized, and have much further to go to reach full realization in practice.

Parents must also be realistic about the possibility that their children will engage in sexual activity. The only way to protect them from unwanted pregnancies, disease, and death will be to make available to them the informa tion about sexual and reproductive health and the services they need to take care of themselves.

This does not mean that young people should not be encouraged to be responsible in their behaviour, or that they will no longer be taught what is acceptable in their society. It does mean that they have the right to private and confiden tial services to protect them from health risks. Sexual abuse and exploitation of adolescents must also be severely proscribed.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child recog nizes the primacy of children's interests in decisions by families, legal systems, and other state action.

top