The Face of Global Sex 2009

March 26 2010

The Face of Global Sex 2009. Sex and relationships education: assessing the gaps for Eastern European youth The Face of Global Sex 2009

Sex and Relationships Education: Assessing the Gaps for Eastern European Youth, the fourth Face of Global Sex Report was published by Durex. It focuses on young people in seven Eastern European countries to determine whether they feel they need more sex and relationships education than they have recieved and what factors influence this perception.

INTRODUCTION
The Face of Global Sex series has sought, since 2005, to explore factors influencing behaviour in and around sexual activity through the statistical analysis of data collected in all the global regions.

With topics including risk-taking in sexual activity, contraception use at first sex and sexual health confidence, this series of reports has uncovered new findings which have been widely welcomed among those with an interest in sexual health.

While this fourth report relies on the same approach, using robust statistical methodologies and a wide literature base, the global focus has shifted to concentrate on one particular region of the world – Eastern Europe, and more particularly seven countries: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia.

Analysing data collected in 2008 among 10,075 14 to 22 year-olds from these seven countries, this study sets out to identify the factors influencing their perceived need for more sex and relationships education.

According to a study from Singh, Bankole and Woog published in Sex Education in 2005, the need for further sex and relationships education is a key predictor for unsafe sexual practices, such as not using condoms.

Durex, through the Durex Network, is a strong supporter of comprehensive and inclusive sex and relationships education through a variety of sources, from school years to adulthood.

Through this study, the Durex Network seeks to further explore findings from previous Face of Global Sex reports which highlighted that sexual health information and education have a consistently positive effect on avoiding risks, using protection consistently from the start and throughout life, and building up sexual confidence.

Sexual health information and education are heavily influenced by cultural and social factors. This has led the Durex Network Research Unit to reduce its focus to one particular global region in order to avoid skewing the research findings through core cultural and social differences. The choice of the Eastern European region, and of the countries within this region, will be further discussed in the methodology section of this report.

Exploring the research question “What factors increase the likelihood for youth in Eastern Europe to perceive greater need for sex and relationships education?”, this report looks at the correlation between the main dependent variable (perceived need for more sex and relationships education) and a number of independent variables: gender; age; age at initial sex and relationships education; country lived in; high importance given to abstinence; high importance given to safer sex; high importance given to regular health checks; relationship status; whether still living with parents; and main source of sex and relationships education.

The correlations were explored through a series of statistical analyses to identify the level of association between these variables and the main dependent variable. A more in-depth discussion on the method adopted is provided in the methodology section of this report.

Overall, the final model highlights that there are four main predictors for perceived need for more sex and relationships education in Eastern Europe: age at initial sex and relationships education; country lived in; sources of sex and relationships education consulted; and the perceived importance of regular sexual health checks.

In addition, correlating these findings with socio-demographic factors from each country has made it possible to offer pointers towards policy and programmatic recommendations for the development of strategic interventions.

Download free eBook: The Face of Global Sex 2009

PDF format, 974KB.

About the Durex Network
The Durex Network was formed in 2005 out of Durex’s successful social marketing activity. As the world’s largest condom maker, Durex has always worked closely with politicians, healthcare professionals, non-governmental organisations, educators and charitable bodies worldwide to promote good sexual health.

The Durex Network’s vision is to inspire people to take responsibility for their sexual health, based on the principle that information leads to knowledge which, in turn, leads to action.

For the Network, this means talking to people to get an in-depth understanding of their needs before developing initiatives to help them gain the knowledge that will, in turn, enable them to make informed choices.

The Durex Network’s mission is to develop and support key initiatives that harness global sexual health expertise to raise awareness of the safer sex message, communicate a prevention ethos and encourage consistent condom use.

In addition, by pooling the expertise of key sex and reproductive healthcare professionals, the Durex Network seeks to share knowledge and help replicate best practice in the field to ensure safer sex stays at the top of everyone’s agenda.

Comments (0) add comment