Sexual behavior and knowledge of AIDS among female trade apprentices in a yoruba town in South-Western Nigeria
Dada, J.O.; Olaseha, I.O.; Ajuwon, A.J.
International Quarterly of Community Health Education 17(3): 255-270
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0272-684X PMID: 20841067 DOI: 10.2190/t27x-jdqh-6t4e-b861Document Number: 275324
This exploratory study was carried out among unmarried female trade apprentices in Ikorodu, a Yoruba town in south-western Nigeria, to identify sexual risk behaviours, assess knowledge on HIV/AIDS, and recommend an appropriate AIDS education programme. Four focus groups were conducted to gain insight into the social-cultural and economic factors influencing sexual risk behaviours, followed by a survey involving 280 randomly selected respondents. Findings showed that many group discussants approved of premarital sex and believed that sex with multiple partners occurred mainly because of the economic difficulties encountered by female apprentices. Most of the survey respondents (70.9%) were sexually experienced, with age of first sexual intercourse ranging from 11 to 22 years. 155 (72.8%) were sexually active; of these, 37.4% said that their last sexual encounter occurred because they could not resist the pressure put on them by their male partners, were under the influence of alcohol, were in need of money, and raped. 60% of the sexually active respondents did not take any action to prevent STD or pregnancy during their last sexual encounter. Of the 58 who did, 37.9% used a condom. Of those sexually experienced (45.3%) have had at least one STD symptom in the year before, half of them did not do anything about their condition; 37% practised self-medication or received injections from quacks. Although 70.9% had heard about AIDS, many had limited knowledge about the nonsexual routes of HIV transmission. Appropriate intervention strategies were recommended to educate the apprentices.