Tasting the Forbidden Fruit: The Social Context of Debut Sexual Encounters Among Young Persons in a Rural Nigerian Community

One of the greatest challenges currently facing conventional adolescents' sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) related research is how to make connections beyond the domain of immediate and proximate factors in order to root ASRH concerns more properly and correctly. Yet variable interconnections made at such levels hold the key to breaking the walls that had hindered a systematic understanding of ASRH issues. In response to this challenge, the present study attempts to use the circumstances surrounding the debut sexual encounters of young persons in a rural Nigerian Community as a central point to understanding their vulnerability to sexual and reproductive health problems. Data for the study were gathered using indepth interviews of 180 persons aged 11-25. Emerging evidence is that first sexual encounters took place under conditions that exposed young people to infections, disability, and even death. The study shows that there is need to build on the clear evidence that good sex education for young persons delays the onset of sexual activity and makes it safer when it eventually commences. JOURNAL OF THE PAN AFRICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION Number 1 Volume VIII March 2001, pp. 96