Tasting the Forbidden Fruit: The Social Context of Debut Sexual Encounters Among Young Persons in a Rural Nigerian Community

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges currently facing conventional adolescents'
sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) related research is how to make
connections beyond the domain of immediate and proximate factors in order to
root ASRH concerns more properly and correctly. Yet variable interconnections
made at such levels hold the key to breaking the walls that had hindered a
systematic understanding of ASRH issues. In response to this challenge, the
present study attempts to use the circumstances surrounding the debut sexual
encounters of young persons in a rural Nigerian Community as a central point
to understanding their vulnerability to sexual and reproductive health
problems. Data for the study were gathered using indepth interviews of 180
persons aged 11-25. Emerging evidence is that first sexual encounters took
place under conditions that exposed young people to infections, disability,
and even death. The study shows that there is need to build on the clear
evidence that good sex education for young persons delays the onset of
sexual activity and makes it safer when it eventually commences.


JOURNAL OF THE PAN AFRICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION Number 1 Volume VIII March 2001, pp. 96