Unsafe Sexual Behaviors Among Young Women and Men in South Africa

This 52-page publication commissioned by the Population Council reports findings that gender, relative poverty, and orphanhood lead to risky sexual behaviour in South African youth. The report was presented on 10 July 2004 at the International AIDS Economics Network meeting in Bangkok, before the start of the XV International AIDS Conference.

Press Release from the Population Council

"Among South African youth, lower socioeconomic status leads to more risky sexual experiences, according to a recent study conducted by Population Council researcher Kelly Hallman. Using household survey data collected in 2001, her study investigated how gender, relative socioeconomic status, and orphanhood influence the sexual behaviors of young women and men aged 14–24 years in the country’s KwaZulu-Natal Province. In this setting—characterized by high HIV prevalence, extreme income inequality, and male-dominated culture—sexual behaviors of young women are especially affected by poverty and the death of their parents.

Hallman’s study investigated how gender, relative socioeconomic status, and orphanhood influence the sexual behaviors of young women and men aged 14-24 years in the country's KwaZulu-Natal Province. In this setting-characterized by high HIV prevalence, extreme income inequality, and male-dominated culture-sexual behaviors of young women are especially affected by poverty and the death of their parents.

This study found that low socioeconomic status increases a female's chances of earlier sexual debut; forced sex; trading sex for money, goods, or favours; having had multiple sexual partners in the year before the survey; and early pregnancy. It reduces the odds of her practicing secondary abstinence, of having used condoms at her last sexual encounter, and having communicated with her most recent sexual partner about condom use and HIV prevention. Females who are orphans have earlier sexual debut, older recent sex partners, less discussion with their most recent sexual partner, lower odds of secondary abstinence, and higher risk of early pregnancy.

Recent studies have shown that the burden of new HIV infections in developing countries is increasingly concentrated among young people and women. "Even with knowledge of how to protect oneself from infection, such information may not always be practical in the daily situations of economic and social disadvantage that characterize the lives of many young people and women in poor countries," says Hallman.

Various social and economic realities in South Africa seem to threaten young women's ability to protect themselves against HIV. Research finds very little negotiation in most sexual relationships between young people in South Africa. Primary reasons given by females for non-discussion include the fear that they would appear not to trust their partners or that their partners would suspect infidelity, with the possible result of physical or emotional abuse.

Several studies from South Africa report that young women's attempts to discuss condoms or HIV/AIDS before a sexual encounter have in some cases led to rape or violence. Experiencing the highest rates of joblessness in South Africa, young women often find themselves relying on their sexual partners for economic support, and consequently have less bargaining power in the relationship. Another Population Council study in KwaZulu-Natal [by Kaufman and Stavrou (2002)] concluded that money and gifts influence African girls, especially young girls, not to suggest condom use.

Research in sub-Saharan African settings with high HIV prevalence and early childbearing indicates that safe sex practices, such as condom use or abstinence, may conflict with cultural expectations to become pregnant. Other Council research [Rutenberg and colleagues (2002)] concludes that young women's fertility aspirations in KwaZulu-Natal Province are influenced by educational opportunities and perceived HIV risk.

Hallman recommends that in designing and placing HIV prevention programs greater attention be paid to the economic and social conditions in which individuals live. She asserts that current HIV prevention programs in South Africa could be better targeted to young, poor females. She further notes that because South Africa has high levels of school attendance and offers life-skills instruction in secondary schools, the curriculum might be enhanced by a stronger focus on the provision of negotiation skills for young women and by the inclusion of livelihood skills, such as how to access existing institutional resources and services."