SEXUAL ACTIVITY AND CONTRACEPTIVE UTILIZATION AMONG UNDERGRADUATES STUDENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Sexual practices among young people are on the rise all throughout the world, with an emphasis on early beginning. Many young adults began their first sexual experiences when they were still in youth. Up to 6% of all sexually active adolescent girls in Nigeria could have gotten pregnant and had an abortion. Sexual behavior has been defined as any activity that creates sexual arousal, with biology and the degree of sociocultural control an individual has over his or her ability to express sexuality being two significant drivers. The desire of individuals or couples to have a satisfying and healthy sexual life is crucial to sexual health. To achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for sexual inclusion, maternal health, and HIV/AIDS, inclusive environments that allow for healthy sexual engagement are crucial. Public health has traditionally focused on the negative repercussions of sexual conduct. Sexual practices, as important factors of reproductive patterns and the spread of sexually transmitted illnesses, contribute greatly to the disease burden. Over the last decade, sexual rights have received significant attention in the foreign policy arena, and new norms for the formation and maintenance of a sexually safe community based on values of integrity, respect, and choice are being formed. Information about sexual behavior and activity is included in the design and evaluation of sexual health strategies. Importantly, empirical data is required to dispel myths about public perception of activities. Nonetheless, while being studied everywhere, sexual conduct creates difficulties for scientific investigation. The same paradox arises in terms of intervention: sexual behavior is rigorously monitored in practically every country, but modifying it to increase sexual wellbeing has proven challenging. The desire to predict and minimize HIV transmission has provided a valuable impetus to both sexual activity and intervention studies throughout the last two decades. Some areas have more data than others, particularly those with low HIV prevalence, strong sex laws, or both. For example, African countries have received far less attention from scholars than Asian ones, resulting in a small information base. Nonetheless, the large number of developing nations with comparable data (those having a Demographic and Health Survey (DHS)) and other countries with comparable national surveys will provide a fair global image. Data is also being collected from evaluations of the efficacy of initiatives targeted at promoting sexual health. The resulting research provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to analyze sexual behavior and strive to protect sexual health at the start of the twenty-first century. Sexual conduct is influenced by both secular and non-secular societal movements. Poverty, education, and housing have all altered tremendously in the last few decades. Seasonal work, rural-to-urban movement, and social insecurity as a result of war and political insecurity have all resulted in demographic alterations in population age structure, marriage timing, and the rate of mobility and migration between and within countries. Many countries’ opinions toward sexual activity have shifted.
Worldwide connections, including the internet, have altered societal norms by moving sexual imagery from more liberal to more conservative civilizations, particularly in societies with rapid advances in information technology. With advances in contraception, sexual identity is becoming increasingly free of its reproductive implications. Health-care legislation and laws, as well as public-health policies, have evolved; access to family planning services has improved; and efforts to prevent HIV transmission have had a limited impact. We talk about growing trends and patterns in major sexual behavior factors, as well as the implications for sexual health and the design of sexual health interventions. Adolescent sexual and reproductive health is a critical policy and programmatic issue in Sub-Saharan Africa, given the widespread AIDS epidemic that has grabbed several nations, as well as a persistently high rate of births at a young age. At the end of 2005, an estimated 4.3 percent of young women and 1.5 percent of young men in Sub-Saharan Africa had HIV, and 9-13 percent of young women had given birth before the age of 16. Young people definitely require access to preventive knowledge and skills before they become sexually active in order to reduce their risk of developing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as undesired pregnancies and very early childbearing. The most challenging task is deciding what unique knowledge to deliver young students, from where, when, and how. One of the first steps in addressing these concerns is to understand the evolving sexual and reproductive health habits and requirements of very young teenagers. Contraception is provided free of charge at government health facilities in Nigeria. Among the facilities accessible are referral hospitals, primary hospitals, main clinics, university clinics, mobile clinics, health posts, the Botswana Family Welfare Association, and sexual and reproductive centers. These health centers are within a 15-kilometer radius of the people’ residences (UNFPA Case Study 2013). Because of strong cultural and religious norms, young single women and undergraduates in higher education do not freely debate the use of contraception, exposing young women to an elevated chance of unwanted/unintended pregnancies. Pregnancy before marriage is likewise frowned upon in many African traditional communities. As a result, for fear of social stigma, many single females who fall pregnant unintentionally seek abortion care. Because abortion is illegal in Nigeria, it is often risky and is frequently performed by traditional herbalists, increasing the risk of maternal mortality. According to two major surveys of university students, despite engaging in high-risk sexual activities, students in Nigeria did not have access to sexual and reproductive health services or HIV/AIDS-related initiatives. The data also found that despite having a high level of contraceptive knowledge, a quarter of university students (25%) had unmet contraceptive needs. Contraceptive use may be influenced by knowledge, attitudes, and expectations regarding sexual and reproductive health, meaning that interventions may result in fewer unwanted pregnancies.
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