From Taiwo Oluwadare, Ibadan
A Civil Society organization, Institute of Public Health has said a research it conducted to check vulnerability of adolescent and young people in Oyo State towards HIV/AIDS prevalence revealed some weird beliefs about sex by young girls in the state.
The program officer of the organization, Mr. Adesina Adediran during a stakeholders’ meeting in Ibadan North local government Secretariat over the weekend revealed to LiveTimes how girls between age of 15 and 24 from Ibadan North, Afijio and Ogbomoso North local governments confined in them why they want sex without condom.
According to him, it was gathered during their activities to conduct a learning session with girls between 15 and 24 who are considered having high vulnerability in communities to HIV/AIDS that they uncover the weird beliefs.
He said: “During our discussions, we asked why they had sex without using condom and one of the answers was ‘how can you take sweet with wrapper’? They also said, ‘if you want to have sex, you have to have it raw to able to enjoy it’. We therefore deduced this as one of the reasons they don’t use condom during sexual intercourses which is giving rise to high prevalence of HIV/AIDS among them.
They added, “sperm from genital organ of a man enrich us and make us look better and fresh”. The girls revealed that they prefer the men’s releases to be poured on their body so they can rub it on their body and face because it reduces pimples and body pains…that when you put it on your body for a while, it makes you look fresh.
“Some even said they prefer to swallow the sperm with milk because it makes them look fresh. So, these are the contextual data gathered from these communities where girls are having wrong perception and understanding about sex which is causing HIV/AIDS prevalence”, he revealed.
The program officer therefore said the stakeholders’ meeting was called to deliberate on way forward to talk to parents on better approach to address the wrong perception about sex among the adolescent and young people in the communities.
According to him, parents have stake in the phenomenal prevalence of the disease, saying “we even gathered that some parents vouch for their children who are already brainwashed by the weird beliefs.
He said: “some girls will tell their parents they are virgins and parents will believe without intruding into their privacy to be sure or give them better understanding about sex. Some parents will even attempt to guillotine their children for finding condom on them”.
Adediran therefore advised the parents on need to educate their children about sex saying unless, they will learn it elsewhere and contribute to the HIV/AIDS prevalence.
He added that the stakeholders’ meeting draws participants from market, artisan groups, private and public hospitals, church, mosques and traditional organizations to discuss on how adolescent and young people’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS can be reduced.
He said both qualitative and quantitative research in the three local government in the state have given them information on contextual topics needed to address some problems in the communities which can lead them to interventions.
According to him, contextual topic from Ibadan North local government was low condom use from those people having sex and low awareness of HIV/AIDS prevalence as a result of the former.
Adediran said the data gathered from the research were used for the discussion during the stakeholders’ meeting.
