No description available.

No description available.

Rigorous research into the patterns and determinants of adolescent pregnancy in Sri Lanka is scarce. Compared to many Western populations and other South Asian countries, levels of adolescent pregnancy are low in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, anecdotal evidence indicates that pregnancies outside of marriage are stigmatized among large sections of the population and that unwanted adolescent pregnancies, illegal abortions and suicides linked to adolescent pregnancy are a concern. Evidence shows low levels of knowledge and restricted access to contraception for adolescents in Sri Lanka. There is a need for more reliable data on adolescent sexuality and pregnancy encompassing a wider range of views in order to shape a culturally appropriate policy and practice response to meeting the reproductive health needs of Sri Lankan adolescents. To understand the context and patterns of adolescent pregnancy and sexual behaviour in a district in Sri Lanka. Population based questionnaire surveys of random samples of pregnant adolescents (n=450, interviewer-administered), their partners (n=150, interviewer-administered) and school going adolescents (n=2,020, self-completion). Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed for each sample separately, followed by an integration of the data across the three data sources. Out of the 450 pregnant adolescents, 409 (91%) were in their first pregnancy. From this 409; 121(30%) were 18 years old. 263 (64%) pregnant adolescents reported that they had planned their pregnancies and 146 (36%) had not planned. Among the 150 partners, 100 (67%) reported they had planned the pregnancy and 50 (33%) had not planned the pregnancy. Among the 2,020 school adolescents (521 boys and 1,499 girls), just 1.5% of the girls and 8.8% of the boys reported experience of a sexual relationship, and only 0.3% of girls and 5.7% of boys had experienced an intimate sexual relationship. Adolescent pregnancies, whether planned or unplanned, were found to be largely welcomed, and adolescent pregnant girls were living within stable and supportive family environments. Pregnant adolescents parents' low education level, parents having married earlier than 18 years, and pregnant adolescents' siblings having children were more apparent compared to the school adolescent girls hinting that pregnant adolescents are from a subculture within which early childbearing is the norm. Findings confirm that pre-marital adolescent sexual activity was not generally condoned and remains rare. Relationships are predominantly monogamous. Gender difference in sexual activity exists. Reproductive health knowledge was very low across the samples and requires attention. Although the majority of pregnancies were planned and welcomed, given the inter-generational consequences of early childbearing, policy makers must find ways to tackle the structural and cultural factors that hamper a shift towards later childbearing among certain sections of the population. A proper collaboration between the education, health and community action can harness a long-term sustainable adolescent risk reduction and adolescent development. The difference of the age of consent (16 years) and the legal age of marriage (18 years) require policy debate.

This thesis investigates young people's understandings and experiences of 'good sex' and sexual pleasure, documenting the resources young people use to make sense of these meanings in the context of their everyday lives and relationships. The study uses a situated approach to explore the methodological possibilities for researching sexual pleasure with a diverse group of young people in one urban location and to examine the ways in which pleasure is embedded, mediated and gendered in young people's sexual cultures. The research is used to contribute to debates about the inclusion of pleasure in sexual health services for young people and make suggestions for future research/practice. Drawing on data from survey, focus group and interview methods the thesis documents the diversity of young people's understandings of 'good sex' and sexual pleasure, suggesting that young people have access to a range of competing discursive and affective frameworks for making distinctions between what counts as 'good' and 'bad' sex. Analyses suggest that sexual meanings and values are contested and contingent on young people's shifting sex and relationship experiences and social locations. Timeliness and reciprocity emerged as key contested areas, shaped by enduring gender arrangements and participants' evolving sexual biographies. The thesis provides a reflexive account of the practice of researching sexual pleasure with young people, reporting on each method to argue that the findings are situated, shaped by interactive and material context. The research documents the benefits of using critical feminist reflexivity to interrogate how researcher/practitioners can create safe spaces for engaging young people in work around sexual pleasure and concludes that possibilities for realising the 'pleasure project' in practice will depend on local, institutional and political context.

Young people’s sexual health is a significant public health concern and associated with risks of unintended outcomes. Yet their voices are largely missing in the design of sexual health services, policy and education programmes. This study explored young people’s subjective understandings of their sexual readiness, and sexual health professionals’ understandings relative to how they assess young people’s sexual competence. A participatory rights-based approach was applied to support young people’s active participation in the research process. This involved including young people as co-researchers whose contextual expertise informed research design, ethical issues and interpretation of the data. Qualitative data collected from 20 young people aged 16-18 years, and 16 sexual health professionals, provided insights into the nature of young people’s first sexual intercourse and the context in which it occurs. The evidence suggests that while these young people actively deliberated about having sex, their sexual initiation was mostly spontaneous while under the influence of alcohol, and motivated by presumed peer rewards. Gender differences in expectations, motivations and the impact of first sex were apparent, which reveals more about the wider social structures that regulate their lives. As a result, some young people may find it difficult to resist the hegemonic gender stereotypes enforced by society and their peers, and may initiate sex to ‘get it over with’, whether they are competent or not. Four main constructs, i) rights, ii) respect, iii) responsibility and iv) resilience, emerged that are worthy of further investigation. These could prove useful to inform a more context-based sexual health promotion strategy and measure of sexual competence, as opposed to the current age and risk focus. Adding young people’s perspectives is crucial to develop more equitable, effective and sustainable youth-friendly sexual health education, treatment and advice services, that better engage with young people and more adequately reflects their needs.

This study investigated coercive and high risk sexual practices in South African adolescent dating relationships. Quantitative and qualitative information was collected from secondary school learners in a community near Johannesburg. Of 928 learners surveyed, 23.5% of females and 53.7% of males ever had sex. Of these, 57.8% of females and 44.2% of males reported sexual victimisation, and 46.8% of females and 50% of males reported perpetrating sexual coercion in a relationship. Significantly more males engaged in risky sex than females. Among females, sexual coercion was significantly linked to risky sexual behaviour. Among males, alcohol and perpetration of sexual coercion were significantly associated with risky sexual behaviour. Focus group data reveal how dominant constructions of gender normalise male coercion and contribute to risky sexual practices. Recommendations for sexual health initiatives include introducing alternative discourses of female sexual desire and male sexual responsibility as a means for building healthier adolescent dating relationships. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

This study investigated coercive and high risk sexual practices in South African adolescent dating relationships. Quantitative and qualitative information was collected from secondary school learners in a community near Johannesburg. Of 928 learners surveyed, 23.5% of females and 53.7% of males ever had sex. Of these, 57.8% of females and 44.2% of males reported sexual victimisation, and 46.8% of females and 50% of males reported perpetrating sexual coercion in a relationship. Significantly more males engaged in risky sex than females. Among females, sexual coercion was significantly linked to risky sexual behaviour. Among males, alcohol and perpetration of sexual coercion were significantly associated with risky sexual behaviour. Focus group data reveal how dominant constructions of gender normalise male coercion and contribute to risky sexual practices. Recommendations for sexual health initiatives include introducing alternative discourses of female sexual desire and male sexual responsibility as a means for building healthier adolescent dating relationships. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)