Attitudes and behaviours of young Indigenous people in Townsville concerning relationships, sex and contraception: the “U Mob Yarn Up” project

Abstract

Objective: To gain some understanding of the attitudes and behaviours of Indigenous young people in Townsville concerning relationships, contraception and safe sex. Design: Cross‐sectional study using a computer‐assisted self‐administered survey and single‐sex focus group discussions designed by a Young Mums’ Group operating on participatory action principles and acting as peer interviewers. Participants and setting: 171 Indigenous students in Years 9–11 at three high schools and 15 residents of a homeless youth shelter in Townsville, Queensland, 27 April – 8 December 2004. Main outcome measures: Self‐reported attitudes and behaviour about relationships, sexual intercourse and contraception. Results: 84/183 participants (45.9%) reported past sexual intercourse, with 56.1% commencing intercourse at age 13–14 years. The likelihood of having had sex increased with being male (P = 0.001), increasing age, increased perceived sexual activity of peer group (both P = 0.000), and drinking alcohol at least weekly (P = 0.015). Young women were more likely to report unwanted sexual touching (P = 0.031), and less likely to report enjoying sexual intercourse (P = 0.001). The main qualitative themes concerned females’ reputations, coercion, and denial of female desire. Only 49/80 participants (61.3%) reported always using condoms. The main reasons for not using contraception were “just not thinking about it”, shame, and problems with access. Despite having reasonable knowledge about contraception, most lacked the confidence and negotiation skills to communicate with partners about condom use. Conclusions: Like teenagers elsewhere, Indigenous teenagers in Townsville are becoming sexually active at a young age, and not practising safe sex reliably. The need to protect their reputations puts young women at risk by not being prepared for safe sex by carrying condoms.

‘Choice, culture and confidence’: key findings from the 2012 having a baby in Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander survey

“…Many Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women have cultural beliefs regarding gender roles and participation during the maternity period and have reported feelings of ‘shame’ in being cared for in birth by men [15] and when discussing reproductive health issues in general [49]. Therefore, not having a choice in the gender of caregivers could cause distress for some Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women.…”

Contraception matters: indicators of poor usage of contraception in sexually active women attending family planning clinics in Victoria, Australia

“…Despite providing free access to contraception, the UK still has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancies in the world [16]. Given that the study population was already “accessing” a family planning service, this reported “lack of access” may reflect other variables - embarrassment in purchasing or discussing contraception; fear of carrying of condoms being seen as a premeditation of sex; inability to anticipate sex especially in the context of alcohol [17]; fear of lack of confidentiality [18]; transport problems, difficulties of getting time off work/school, taking too long to get an appointment or even waiting times in clinics [19]. “Accessability to contraception” certainly was seen to be an issue in adolescent populations [19] but it still remains unclear why this is so.…”

“…Due to the skew towards the younger cohort, our study was not powered to detect a difference for women aged more than 40 years old. The literature suggests that for those less than 25 years old, this increased vulnerability may be due to higher fertility, shorter intervals between sex [20], having multiple partners [21], and/or less capacity to anticipate sex (especially in the context of alcohol) [17]. …”

Qualitative Inquiry into Premarital Sexual Behaviours and Contraceptive Use among Multiethnic Young Women: Implications for Education and Future Research

“…Studies from other countries showed that unintentional pregnancies among the young could also be due to lack of power to negotiate with their partners on whether contraceptives should be used [24]–[25]. In contrast, coercion and lack of power in negotiating contraceptive use were not raised in our FGDs.…”

“…Prior studies noted that unintentional pregnancies among the young were due to misinformation and ignorance of sexual issues [24]–[25]. It was found that girls in secondary schools bear the greatest risks of unexpected consequences from sexual activity as most engaged in sexual intercourse without possessing adequate information about human reproduction and contraception [26].…”