Views on social and cultural influence on sexuality and sexual health in groups of Ugandan adolescents

Abstract

Sexual problems such as forced and transactional sex are common among adolescents, especially in developing countries. The objective of the present study was to describe how young people respond to their social living conditions and why they marry early, have early pregnancies, experience forced sex and involve themselves in transactional sex. Young people, 15–24 years old, participated in focus group discussions that were tape recorded, translated into English, transcribed and analysed by qualitative content analysis. Six groups were mixed, with both women and men, while two groups had only men and one group only women as participants. The two study sites were located in a slum area in Kampala and in a village in Wakiso district, near a trading centre. The following topics were discussed: Forced sex, early marriage, contraception, teenage pregnancy and transactional sex. The participants described how young people are affected by harmful cultural practices, by power imbalance, especially due to gender-based inequity, and by lack of information and life skills. This study also showed that young people perceive themselves as a resource and are prepared to help other less advantaged youth to get knowledge about reproductive health issues. Enforcement of laws that can protect children and youth was suggested. Government and community should work against harmful traditional practices and introduce sexual education in primary school.