Advocating for Adolescent Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa[PDF]

Also available in French in [PDF] format.

The following are commonly asked questions about providing adolescents with reproductive health information and services. Although questions can be seen as criticism, they actually provide opportunities to educate opinion leaders and the public. Answering questions accurately and honestly shows that advocates are professional and serious about the issues.

Before beginning an advocacy campaign, advocates should anticipate questions and criticisms and plan their responses.

Shouldn't family members and elders be the ones responsible for teaching children about sexuality?

Young people often say they want to be able to talk with their parents about their reproductive health, and communication between parents and children is very important. Unfortunately, many adults do not know what to say or how or when to say it, and feel uncomfortable talking with young people about sexuality. As societies change, few families have the opportunity to utilize traditional sexuality education. A family's silence can give its young people the message that sexuality is bad and should not be discussed. With no other clear source of knowledge and values, young people often look to the popular media and their peers for information.

Sexuality education can create more opportunities for dialogue between youth and adults and help refute the myths about sexuality that young people often hear from the media and from their peers. Supplementing the education provided by the family can also help adults overcome the difficulties they face when they are the only providers of information and guidance.

Doesn't reproductive health education promote sex and lead to promiscuity?

Providing information about sexuality does not lead young people to experiment with sex. In fact, providing accurate information before young people begin to have sex has been shown to help teens abstain from sex. In the case of youth who are sexually active, accurate sexuality education helps them protect themselves against HIV/AIDS and other STDs by increasing the chances that they will use condoms.

A recent World Health Organization review of reproductive health education programs from all over the world found that the young participants were not more likely to engage in early sexual activity, nor did they show increased sexual activity compared to their peers. Studies consistently show that teens who receive accurate sexuality education are more likely to report using a contraceptive at first intercourse than are teens without sexuality education.

Why not just teach abstinence?

Reproductive health education begins with abstinence—the only completely certain way for youth to protect themselves against pregnancy, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. To successfully practice abstinence, young people need skills, including decision making, communication, negotiation, and refusal skills. When abstinence is taught as the only option for young people, youth do not receive information and skills that will help keep them safe when they become sexually active. Without information, young people are less able to make responsible choices.

How can you teach abstinence and contraception at the same time?

Abstinence and contraception are the two best ways for youth to protect themselves and stay healthy. Telling young people about both acknowledges the challenges young people face growing up in today's complex world and helps youth act responsibly. Research shows that programs that teach both abstinence and contraception are more effective at reaching youth and promoting healthy behavior than are programs that teach abstinence only.

What are the effects of reproductive health education?

First, reproductive health programs can help teens remain abstinent by giving them accurate information about their own bodies, raising their awareness of sexually transmitted diseases, and helping them build the skills to resist peer pressure. Second, among youth that have had sex, information and access to contraceptives helps keep young people safe from HIV, other STDs, and unintended pregnancy. Research shows neither that giving youth information on sexual health and /or providing them reproductive health services does not make it more likely that they will have sex.

What will the community think of me if I support reproductive health information and services for youth?

When communities discuss youth issues openly for the first time, more support sometimes emerges for reproductive health programs than anyone would have imagined. People everywhere want young people to grow up healthy. They wonder what to do about the spread of HIV/AIDS, and they are often willing to discuss potential solutions when their opinions are heard.

Most of the opposition to reproductive health education comes from the fear that discussing sexuality will promote promiscuity among youth. Research shows that this is not true; but, it takes time and effort to encourage the public to examine their long-held beliefs and values. Educating the public about the positive effects of reproductive health education can help allay fears and build public support for adolescent reproductive health programs.

What good is reproductive health education to a youth with no job?

Reproductive health education is very important to unemployed youth. There is a strong link between young people's economic well-being and their reproductive health. Out of school and street-involved youth may be less likely to seek information and services on their own and may be more susceptible to exploitation or being a sex worker.

Don't in-school peer education programs disrupt school by taking students out of class?

Peer education programs should not disrupt a young person's education. Rather, by keeping students healthy, preventing pregnancy, and encouraging healthy behavior, youth programs help keep students in class. Programs for young people contribute to their education, not distract from it.

Some people say that western countries made up AIDS and promote contraceptives to stop Africans from reproducing. Is that true?

No. People sometimes are suspicious of programs that mention contraceptives or provide reproductive health services to young people. Frequently, this comes from the impression that these are western practices and contrary to indigenous cultural beliefs or religious teachings. Yet African leaders are among the greatest proponents of adolescent reproductive health issues around the globe. While people might wish that AIDS was just a myth, saying that AIDS does not exist will not protect young people from the disease.

Don't programs for youth "push" contraceptives on young people?

Providing information and services to youth is about helping them stay safe, not about encouraging them to have sex. Responsible programs never push contraceptives on young people; rather, they educate youth about how to prevent STDs and pregnancy. Young people need courage and skills to act responsibly when faced with difficult situations in which they must make hard choices. Forcing youth to accept contraceptives would do nothing to prepare them to make responsible choices.

Why change the reproductive health education already offered in the schools?

The goal of reproductive health education is to promote young people's health. Good sexuality education focuses on both factual information and skills development in setting goals, communicating about whether to have sex, negotiating abstinence or contraceptive use, and resisting peer pressure. In many schools, reproductive health education focuses only on anatomy and physiology or population and neglects the important role of family life or relationships in sexuality education.

School programs can play an important role in educating young people about sexual health and decision making. Reproductive health education in schools helps young people before they start having sex, increasing their motivation to delay sexual intercourse and to use contraception consistently.

Don't condoms fail? Won't telling teens they should use condoms give them a false sense of protection?

When used consistently and correctly, latex condoms are extremely effective. Most condom failure results not because condoms break or leak, but because they are used incorrectly. More information about contraceptives, and more education about how to use them, increases the chance that contraceptives will be used correctly and consistently. Accurate information will help teens make responsible decisions about whether to have sex and about the most appropriate way to avoid STDs and unintended pregnancy.