Adolescent sexual health? Let's get real!

Teenage girls in Benin want to be taken seriously

Do we know what young people need, just because we’ve worked with them for decades? Plan is finding that asking teenagers their opinion, is bringing about surprising results.

Teenage girls in Africa continue to be at high risk of HIV infection. It is becoming clear that accepted best-practice approaches (such as sexual health awareness raising, peer education, condom promotion and voluntary counseling) aren't making enough of a difference.

By developing a real dialogue with teenagers, we’re learning much more about how we can better help them.

Schoolgirls in Africa are routinely subjected to aggressive sexual advances by older male students, by teachers, and by so-called sugar daddies in the vicinity of the school.

Sophie, a 19-year-old secondary-school student from Benin, told us that more needs to be done to help girls defend themselves, to make schools safe:

What are our problems? Our schools are far from home. I walk for over an hour at daybreak, and back again in the burning afternoon sun. Our parents are poor. We often leave the house without breakfast, and without food or money for the rest of the day. Any spare time we have is taken working on our family farm. We have little opportunity to earn our own money, and nowhere to go to meet friends or socialize. Our schools are unsafe. Sexual harassment is common. Many young women have to leave school due to pregnancy. There are no health or social services for us young people. When we try to speak out, we find that our opinion does not count. Nobody asks us what we need and what we want. Parents, stop abusing your children. Give us the freedom to express ourselves. Our government should: enforce the laws that protect our rights create spaces for young people to meet create services that meet our needs Donors and aid agencies should: fund organisations and services that respond to our real needs support quality education in a safe environment NGOs and the government should develop programs that address our real issues. HIV prevention and sexual health promotion are only a small part of our problems. Stop telling us what our problems are. Take us seriously. Our education and sexual and physical health are at risk because of the long walk to school, and because we can’t eat until we get home in the evening.

Sophie knows everything about HIV, family planning, and sexual health. How helpful to her is the roadside poster she passes twice a day that reads ‘Beware of AIDS’?

We think that we are starting to ask the right questions - even if we are getting answers that we are not used to.