Teenage Pregnancy In South Africa

The Facts on Teenage Pregnancy in South Africa

As with many developing countries, the rate of teenage pregnancy in South Africa is high. Most people argue that this is a substantial problem for the country, and is an expression of a failure to help young girls deal with sexuality. This failure leads to not only pregnancies and abortions, but also to STDs and HIV and AIDS; many believe that adolescents in South Africa are in desperate need of adequate sex education and confidential contraceptive services.

There are many factors behind teenage pregnancy in South Africa. Often, adequate knowledge of contraception is lacking, due to negative attitudes regarding sexual activity before marriage. Young girls are not educated about contraceptive use because many believe there is no need to educate them; they must wait until they are married to have sex anyway.

Teenage pregnancy in South Africa is mainly a problem among women who live in rural, poverty-stricken areas; South Africa’s urban female adolescents, however, are also at a high risk of finding themselves pregnant at an early age. These urban girls have become addicted to drugs, alcohol, and expensive lifestyles; to ensure that they have the money for their desires, they sadly stumble onto the path of prostitution and often become pregnant and drop out of school.

Unfortunately, there are a number of myths, the most prominent being that sleeping with a virgin will cure HIV-AIDS, that actually promote the rape of young women. In many cases, these victims are left pregnant. Education regarding these myths and other issues relating to teenage pregnancy in South Africa are believed to be fundamental in dealing with the problem of adolescent pregnancy. Many education programs, however, are controversial, as is the practice of forcing a young girl who is visibly pregnant to drop out of school; furthermore, a consensus has not been reached as to what degree tradition should play in educating young girls.

One controversial practice that may be impacting teenage pregnancy in South Africa is that of virginity testing in rural KwaZulu-Natal, where girls on average between the ages of 7 and 26 allow a stranger to check if their hymens are intact. The girls are overjoyed when the test confirms they are virgins. People supporting this practice say that it is an effective tool in stopping the spread of teenage pregnancies and HIV, while opponents claim that the practice is unconstitutional, unhygienic and a violation of human rights. Advocates of the practice also agree that virginity testing is unhygienic at the moment, as the tester touches up to 600 girls a day, often with bare hands and without washing hands between girls; however, advocates claim that if the government supported the practice, there would be funding to purchase gloves, food, and areas where girls could be tested in private. Furthermore, many supporters of the practice argue that in a country where rape of young girls is prevalent, virginity testing is proving to be a useful method of uncovering sexual abuse on young girls who fear speaking out about it.

---

 

News About Teenage Pregnancy Teenage pregnancy on the rise in Australia 29 Aug 2010 at 2:51am Melbourne, Aug 29: Teenage pregnancy is on the rise in Australia and the number of births to teenage mothers has increased by 10 percent after steady decline for decades, latest data has revealed. No sex please, they're Chinese 4 Sep 2010 at 12:32pm If all goes according to plan, this fall a girl somewhere in China's Yunnan province will tell her boyfriend she can't have sex with him. And he'll have an abstinence programme from the US to thank. Fritz guilty on 5 counts 4 Sep 2010 at 2:11am By STACY LANGLEYTribune Staff Writer CARO ? After nearly two hours spent deliberating Monday morning, the jury in the criminal case against the former Owendale-Gagetown softball coach Cory Fritz returned with a mixed verdict. 8 Guys Bristol Palin Should Date 2 Sep 2010 at 11:18am Now that Levi Johnston is out of the picture, who do you think Bristol Palin should date? Win McNamee/Getty Images Bristol Palin , who will be joining the new cast of "Dancing With the Stars," first found herself in the limelight when her teenage pregnancy became public during her mother Sarah's campaign for Vice President. Last Night on Late Night: Will Arnett's New Baby Is Connected to Rod Stewart ... 3 Sep 2010 at 2:41am Will Arnett not only spilled the beans about his wife Amy Poehler having their newest son via C-section, he also told David Letterman that the doctors were bumping the radio during the birth and when the magic moment arrived it was a Rod Stewart song about teenage pregnancy setting the soundtrack for the joyous occasion. Up next, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow shows Jimmy Fallon how to mix up a Sazerac ... Gluckman: It is Hard to be a Teenager 2 Sep 2010 at 10:43pm Being an adolescent now is very different from being one just one or two generations ago and we will not understand the teenage years if we project our own experiences on to them. LSUHSC Pediatric Weight Expert Provides Obesity Trinity Answers 3 Sep 2010 at 4:44pm In a first person paper published in the August 27, 2010 issue of Childhood Obesity, Dr. Melinda Sothern, Director of Health Promotion and Professor of Public Health at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, provides three ways to de-program the 1950s obesity trinity underlying the current obesity epidemic in the United States and protect future generations from its health consequences." ... Media's Impact On Teen Sexual Behaviors, Teenage Pregnancies And Sexually Tra... 31 Aug 2010 at 6:17pm With the highest teen pregnancy rate in the Western Hemisphere and 25% of teens having had a sexually transmitted infection, we should be paying careful attention to media messages about sexuality and contraception, says a revised policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) "Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media," published in the medical journal Pediatrics. Web sites and TV ... Crane man charged with ?sexting? 3 Sep 2010 at 5:48pm Federal authorities have charged a Crane man who reportedly admitted to ?sexting? with a 15-year-old girl. Michael Angelo Cavazos, 28, appeared Friday before a federal magistrate in Midland on charges of coercion and enticement and transferring... Three ways to de-program the 1950s obesity trinity underlying current obesity... 3 Sep 2010 at 6:42am In a first person paper published in the August 27, 2010 issue of Childhood Obesity, Dr. Melinda Sothern, Director of Health Promotion and Professor of Public Health at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, provides three ways to de-program the 1950s obesity trinity underlying the current obesity epidemic in the United States and protect future generations from its health consequences.   [CaRP] Can't open cache file. [CaRP] Failed to open file: /hsphere/local/home/aldouspi/carp/autocache/aafb8eb9df38679eae83194d30ecd345 [CaRP] Can't open remote newsfeed. [CaRP] Can't open cache file. [CaRP] Failed to open file: /hsphere/local/home/aldouspi/carp/autocache/bfdae7c17286f0cd30793f2645bb2450 [CaRP] Can't open remote newsfeed.