LONDON, England – Young people across the globe are
having more unprotected sex and know less about
effective contraception options, a multinational
survey revealed on Monday.
The “Clueless or Clued Up: Your Right to be informed
about contraception” study prepared for World
Contraception Day (WCD) reports that the number of
young people having unsafe sex with a new partner
increased by 111% in France, 39% in the USA and 19%
in Britain in the last three years.
“No matter where you are in the world, barriers exist
which prevent teenagers from receiving trustworthy
information about sex and contraception, which is
probably why myths and misconceptions remain so
widespread even today,” a member of the WCD task
force, Denise Keller, said in a statement with the
results of the study.
“When young people have access to contraceptive
information and services, they can make choices that
affect every aspect of their lives which is why it’s
so important that accurate and unbiased information
is easily available for young people to obtain,”
Keller said.
The survey, commissioned by Bayer Healthcare
Pharmaceuticals and endorsed by 11 international
non-governmental organizations, questioned more than
6,000 young people from 26 countries including Chile,
Poland and China, on their attitudes toward sex and
contraception.
The level of unplanned pregnancies among young people
is a major global issue, campaigners say, and the
rise in unprotected sex in several counties has
sparked concern about the quality of sex education
available to youngsters.
In Europe, only half of respondents receive sex
education from school, compared to three quarters
across Latin America, Asia Pacific and the USA.
Many respondents also said that they felt too
embarrassed to ask a healthcare professional for
contraception.
“What young people are telling us is that they are
not receiving enough sex education or the wrong type
of information about sex and sexuality,” spokeswoman
for the International Planned Parenthood Federation,
Jennifer Woodside said in a statement.
“The results show that too many young people either
lack good knowledge about sexual health, do not feel
empowered enough to ask for contraception or have not
learned the skills to negotiate contraceptive use
with their partners to protect themselves from
unwanted pregnancies or STIs (sexually transmitted
infections),” she said.
More than a third of respondents in Egypt believe
bathing or showering after sex will prevent
pregnancy, and more than a quarter of those in
Thailand and India believe that having intercourse
during menstruation is an effective form of
contraception.
But the fact that many young people engage in
unprotected sex and the prevalence of harmful myths
should not come as a surprise, Woodside said.
“How can young people make decisions that are right
for them and protect them from unwanted pregnancy and
STIs, if we do not empower them and enable them to
acquire the skills they need to make those choices?”
she said. –Reuters
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