Sexual and reproductive rights violations at sexual debut of male and female adolescents in Ghana

Abstract

Objective

To examine the social and ethical challenges in enforcing sexual and reproductive rights of male and female adolescents abused at sexual debut in Ghana.

Methodology

This was a secondary analysis of cross-sectional survey data on 278 sexually experienced male and female teenagers from 12 communities selected by cluster random sampling in the Ejisu-Juben district. We extracted relevant data from a 2009 academic thesis project involving 481 respondents. We assessed differences between sexual debut experiences of males and females using Pearson's chi-square and ANOVA tests. P-values ≤0.05 were considered significant.

Results

Mean ages at sexual debut for males and females were 16.05 ± 1.8 and 15.98 ± 1.47 years respectively (P=0.719). Adolescents of both sexes experienced defilement and forced sexual debut; similar proportions had early sexual debut. Females who had early sexual debut were more likely than their older counterparts to have low educational attainment and induced abortion.

Conclusions

Many male and female adolescents experience sexual and reproductive rights breaches at sexual debut. Prevailing circumstances hinder optimization of sexual and reproductive rights of juveniles in Ghana. We recommend making clear provisions for young persons in the law on sexual offences in the criminal code to facilitate development of interventions to improve access to justice for offenders and victims.