10% of sexually active
school girls have kids
WILLEMSTAD--From a survey of 496 students between 14 and 24 years of age, it turns out almost 10 per cent of sexually active teenage girls between 15 and 19 has a child. Condoms are hardly used. This teenage pregnancy in Curaçao must be combated as if it is an illness.
These are the words of “Fundashon Embaraso Hubenil” (Youth Pregnancy Foundation) that had the students of the University of the Dutch Caribbean conduct an inquiry during the Study and Career Market.
The young adults were approached and asked to fill out a short questionnaire about their sexual activities. They were also asked about teen pregnancy.
It was already known that teenage pregnancy is much more prevalent on the Antillean islands than for example in the Netherlands, but that these figures relate to school going girls makes it more shocking. It appears from other figures that the percentage of teenage mothers among drop-outs is even higher than the 9.3 per cent that came out of this inquiry.
The average age that students have sex for the first time is 15. Seventy five per cent of 17-year-old students are sexually active and 50 per cent of these have already had two sex-partners.
Ten per cent have had sexual contact with more than 10 persons, according to the inquiry. The inquiry does not mention whether these are boys or girls.
Young people still do not use condoms consistently. More than half of the young people with a steady partner never or very seldom use a condom; the percentage is 27 for those who have casual relationships.
The foundation sees teen pregnancy as a disorder that can only be diminished by taking several measures at the same time. There are a few factors that fuel this disorder, like poverty, no parents at home and the pattern of repeated teen pregnancy of mother to daughter or between sisters.
But condoms also protect against sexually transmittable diseases. Nine per cent of all new cases of HIV involve young persons between 15 and 24 years of age.
The foundation, known from the campaign “Embaraso, bo desishon” (Pregnancy, your decision) has meanwhile launched a new campaign, in which the target group is addressed in its own language: “Mi’n dale swa! Mi’n ta tin kňndňn brother!’ (I didn’t do her man. I didn’t have a condom bro!) The striking logo in this is a condom on a raised middle finger.
