Young people have sex (full stop)
On World Population Day this year, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his speech said, “Women and young people who are in good health, and who have the power and means to make their own decisions about how many children to have and when to have them are better able to contribute to the development of their societies.” This is very encouraging to young people in Zimbabwe. To say young women and girls have no access to family planning is true largely because of society stereotypes and ignorance. Being raised in societies where premarital sex is rejected makes it difficult for one to make use of contraceptives before they are married. Our societies would take a big blow in the face and would find it difficult to call for abstinence if they were to accept that young people engage in sexual activities before they are married. Abstinence is the best and safest method, but on the ground we have young people engaging themselves in risky sexual behaviours. Which places them at risk of unwanted pregnancies, as well as contracting STIs and HIV.
In a survey of 14-24 year old men and women from conducted in Harare it found that 43% of women had premarital sexual intercourse yet 80% of pregnant students did not want to be pregnant. This survey also found that even though 79.5% of the young adults knew at least one method of contraceptive and did not want to fall pregnant, 87% of the sexually active women and 83% of the sexually active men did not use them at first intercourse. Further, 64% of never married women and 71% of never married men who had intercourse in the month before the survey did not use contraceptives. The survey established that the leading reason for not using a method was ignorance.
With increased access to family planning methods made available to young girls and women in the country, we can go a long way in reducing unwanted pregnancies in this era where the number of those abstaining is on the decrease. Yes we can argue for the young girls to abstain, but when they go back to the streets, to their friends and colleges only a few will manage to abstain. So its better that they be educated. I have seen and heard stories of women in colleges and universities who defer their studies after they have fallen pregnant. Some of these never return to complete their studies. PSI believes that, ‘Women have greater access to education and employment opportunities when they control their fertility, which can enhance their own and their families’ economic status.’