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http://hdl.handle.net/1956/2684
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| Title: | Traditional values of virginity and sexual behaviour in rural Ethiopian youth: results from a cross-sectional study |
| Authors: | Molla, Mitike
Berhane, Yemane
Lindtjørn, Bernt |
| Issue Date: | 9-Jan-2008 |
| Publisher: | BioMed Central |
| Citation: | BMC Public Health 2008, 8:9 |
| Abstract: | Background: Delaying sexual initiation has been promoted as one of the methods of decreasing
risks of HIV among young people. In traditional countries, such as Ethiopia, retaining virginity until
marriage is the norm. However, no one has examined the impact of this traditional norm on sexual
behaviour and risk of HIV in marriage. This study examined the effect of virginity norm on having
sex before marriage and sexual behaviour after marriage among rural Ethiopian youth.
Methods: We did a cross-sectional survey in 9 rural and 1 urban area using a probabilistic sample
of 3,743 youth, 15–24 years of age. Univariate analysis was used to assess associations between
virginity norm and gender stratified by area, and between sexual behaviour and marital status. We
applied Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analysis to estimate age at sexual debut and assessed the
predictors of premarital sex among the never-married using SPSS.
Results: We found that maintaining virginity is still a way of securing marriage for girls, especially
in rural areas; the odds of belief and intention to marry a virgin among boys was 3–4 times higher
among rural young males. As age increased, the likelihood of remaining a virgin decreased. There
was no significant difference between married and unmarried young people in terms of number of
partners and visiting commercial sex workers. Married men were twice more likely to have
multiple sexual partners than their female counterparts. A Cox regression show that those who
did not believe in traditional values of preserving virginity (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] = 2.91
[1.92–4.40]), alcohol drinkers (AHR = 2.91 [1.97–4.29]), Khat chewers (AHR = 2.36 [1.45–3.85]),
literates (AHR = 18.01 [4.34–74.42]), and the older age group (AHR = 1.85 [1.19–2.91]) were
more likely to have premarital sex than their counterparts.
Conclusion: Although virginity norms help delay age at sexual debut among rural Ethiopian youth,
and thus reduces vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections and HIV infection, vulnerability
among females may increase after marriage due to unprotected multiple risky sexual behaviours by
spouses. The use of preventive services, such as VCT before marriage and condom use in marriage
should be part of the HIV/AIDS prevention and control strategies. |
| URI: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-9
http://hdl.handle.net/1956/2684 |
| Appears in Collections: | Centre for International Health
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