Negotiated silence: the management of the self as a moral subject in young Ethiopian women's discourse about sexuality

Emergency contraceptive use in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Challenging common assumptions about young people’s contraceptive practices

“…2,31 This study further investigated reasons that contribute to infrequent sexual activity among young people and found that, in Addis Ababa, it was mostly shaped by the secrecy surrounding premarital sexuality; this was influenced in particular by the pressure felt by women to live up to longstanding normative frameworks about womanhood that prescribe them to abstain from sex until marriage, as well as the moral judgment of society felt by both men and women. 22,27 Avoiding damage to one's reputation has been found to be an important factor in shaping sexual behavior across many different settings. 32 For example, studies in South Africa and Tanzania showed that young people may hide their relationships from parents for fear of disclosure of their sexual practices.…”

“…Girls are expected to abstain from sex until marriage and not doing so puts their moral standing and that of their family at risk. 22 Boys enjoy more freedom and, as long as done discreetly, are even expected to have sexual encounters. 23 In one recent study, young men narrated how having premarital sex prevented women from questioning their manhood and helped them develop sex skills needed for marriage.…”

“…24,25 This puts women in particular in a position where they try to make sense of longstanding condemnatory discourses on sexuality and their own sexual activity. 22 Indeed, female study participants spoke about their parents' successful attempts to try to limit their freedom to go out and associate with men. Young women narrated how they hardly communicated with their parents about sexual matters except in the form of receiving warnings.…”

‘They are a shame to the community … ’ stigma, school attendance, solitude and resilience among pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers in Mahama refugee camp, Rwanda

“…There is power embedded in silence. Silence can take the form of an attempt to assert social control through selective imposition (Foucault, 1978(Foucault, /1990Kebede et al, 2014;Preston-Whyte, 2003). In the Burundian context, certain subjects are silenced or taboo.…”

Qualitative Research Methods

“…As a more recent example, consider how Kebede et al 56 introduced the concept of "negotiated silence" to portray a phenomenon identified in a study among unmarried women who had had abortions in Ethiopia. As a more recent example, consider how Kebede et al 56 introduced the concept of "negotiated silence" to portray a phenomenon identified in a study among unmarried women who had had abortions in Ethiopia.…”