Abstract

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate how female grade 9 learners, ranging in age from fourteen to fifteen years, understand sexual risk behaviour. High-risk sexual behaviour correlates with an increase in contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STD's) and HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is a major threat facing our youth. Despite having a basic knowledge of the disease, young people do not see HIV/AIDS as a threat to their own personal health. According to Visser and Moleko (2000) sexual activity has become a norm amongst adolescents.

Using both the Health Belief Model and the first two levels of the Ecological Systems Model as a framework, the aim of this study was to develop an understanding of the factors that influence behaviour. A qualitative methodological approach was followed and focus group discussions were utilized as a data collection tool.

The criteria for inclusion in this study would be that the participant must be within the 14-15 year age group and who have been or are presently in a relationship. The study site was Ridge Park College within the Overport-Musgrave community. This school consists of a mixed racial learner population of females with English being the medium of teaching and learning. Concerning the racial demographics, it is 75-80% African, with a sprinkling of whites and the remainder comprising of learners from the Coloured and Indian communities. The study was conducted amongst female grade nine learners at Ridge Park College within the Overport-Musgrave community in Ethekwini (Durban), KwaZulu-Natal.

This study found that although the learners had a reasonable knowledge of HIV/AIDS, some myths still prevailed regarding the spreading of the disease. The influence of the peer-group and subsequent fear of rejection by the group was so strong that a learner would choose health risk behaviour in order to be accepted by the group. The female learners feared getting caught more than having sex. They also feared becoming pregnant more than being infected by the HIV virus. The learners deemed the abuse of drugs and alcohol as pressing risk behaviour because it is so freely available.

This study recommended, inter alia, that:

• the individual must be empowered by a healthy self-image, a sense of self-efficacy and a broader social and parental support system in order to resist peer-pressure; myths surrounding HIV/AIDS be challenged;
• focus be given on the dynamics of peer pressure and the basic need of the human beings to be loved and accepted;
• parents be empowered to demonstrate open communication (especially on sexual matters) with their children and parents be encouraged to trust them by giving them the freedom to make their decisions thereby taking away the fear of parent's disapproval;
• female learners be empowered not to internalise male stereotypes but to assert their rights to practise safe sex and to challenge double standards about virginity in males and females;
• and based on interactive programmes to facilitate the postponement of an early sexual debut until marriage.

It is difficult to encapsulate the complexities of gender and HIV/AIDS within the constraints of this research project. Women have traditionally been excluded from the political, legal, economic, religious and social structures that are invested with power in patriarchal societies. The social conditioning of women and men, whereby particular roles are considered to be gender-determined, both maintains and reflects this exclusion. Without power, women are curtailed in their ability to exercise control over their lives. For the woman who is HIV positive or living with AIDS, the threat of disempowerment is likely to be greater. A patriarchal society poses a double dilemma to women who are HIV positive or living with AIDS. Disempowerment related to their HIV/AIDS status is potentially compounded by virtue of their gender. However, despite these often entrenched barriers to female empowerment, many women who are HIV negative, positive or living with HIV/AIDS have challenged patriarchal structures, and in doing so have contributed to the care, well-being and respect of all people with HIV/AIDS.

One of the recurring concerns among female participants in this research project was their lack of power in sexual risk behaviour, as it relates to condom use. Therefore lobbying more support for the expeditious availability of the microbicide gel may become an important short-term strategy to stem the tide of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

RECOMMENDATIONS CONCERNING SEXUAL RISK BEHAVIOUR

Based on the findings of this study the following recommendations are made:

• Empower the individual with a healthy self-image, a sense of self-efficacy and bolster a broader social and parental support system in order to resist peer-pressure.
• Challenge the myths surrounding the spreading of HIV/AIDS.
• Focus on the dynamics of peer pressure and the basic need of the human beings to be loved and accepted.
• Empower parents to demonstrate open communication (especially on sexual matters) with their children and encourage parents to trust them by giving them the freedom to make their decisions thereby taking away the fear of parent's disapproval.
• Empower female learners not to internalise male stereotypes but to assert their rights to practise safer sex and to challenge double standards about virginity in males and females.
• Lobbying more support for the expeditious availability of a microbicide gel as an important short-term strategy to stem the tide of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
• Based on interactive programmes, to facilitate the postponement of an early sexual debut until marriage.
• Encourage parents to consider 'giving permission' to their daughters to have a boyfriend when their children are mature enough and their school performance would not be adversely affected.
• Empower learners to resist peer pressure to prematurely engage in drugs, sex and alcohol by challenging the cognitive dissonance between their knowledge of health behaviour and their practice of risk behaviour.

Written by: Dr Irvin Chetty

[ichetty@telkomsa.net]