Government report unearths secondary school sex shocker

Baboki Kayawe | Thursday December 15, 2016 18:00

 

The study, led by the Ministry and supported by other agencies, involved questionnaires to 7,205 students in 135 schools across all districts between February and April 2015.

The study was released on Tuesday. According to the results, at least five percent of teenagers sampled reported that their sexual debuts were forced, with a higher frequency among public school respondents, as compared to those at private schools.

“Forced sex at sexual debut was higher in public schools at 22.7% of respondents reporting forced sexual debut, as compared to private schools at 7.7 percent.  The report also reveals that 33% of students reported that they had sexual intercourse before the age of 13 years, with the higher proportion being males.

Students in the Chobe region recorded the highest proportion of students who had sex before age 13, with 69.0% of them revealing this to researchers.

“Private school students reported a lower proportion of sexual debut before the age of 13 at 26.9% compared to public school students,” the report states.  The rate of intergenerational sex is also high with 71% of participants reporting that their first sexual partner was five years younger or older than them. 

“Of the males, 69.7% reported their first partner being five years younger or older whereas 72.6% of females reported their first sexual partner being five years younger or older,” the report states.

Higher proportions of private school learners reported a more than five-year age difference with their first sexual partner at a rate of 75% compared to 70.8% of public school students. Transactional sex is also a concern in the report. Of all the respondents who were sexually experienced, 13.4% reported exchanging sex for money, drugs or gifts.

“A higher proportion of males, 16.9%, reported exchanging sex for money, drugs or gifts compared to females at 8.9 percent. Kgalagadi region was lowest at 6.8 percent with Gantsi highest at 20.8%.”

The study further says a lower proportion of those in private schools reported transactional sex as compared to public schools.

Moreover, among those sexually experienced, 48.9% reported having more than one partner in the last 12 months with Kweneng region reporting the highest positive responses in the questionnaires at almost 60% and Chobe the lowest. 

“Among those aged 13, 35.6% reported having more than one sexual partner in the last 12 months.

For all other ages, the proportions reported were around 40% or higher,” the report states. 

More students at private schools reported having more than one sexual partner in the last 12 months, compared to their peers in the public school system. The researchers recommended stronger action to combat the trends among high school learners.

“Further analyses should also be undertaken to understand factors leading to high-risk behaviours.”