Should British teenagers agree to ‘abstinence pledges’ like American
youth? Rose de Freitas asked several young activists and HIV/sexual health
professionals to comment
Over one million teenagers in 2,500 American schools have been receiving an abstinence-based sex education in their curriculum since Bush backed the programme for 2003 by committing $135 million to step up its future implementation (a 33 per cent increase on the year before). Although the US Department of Health and Human Service Grant Study predicts a 50 to 60 per cent reduction in teen sexual activity in consequence, the early analysis results of the campaign have not been encouraging.
So far about 60 per cent of the young people who signed up to the ‘abstinence
pledges’ themselves had broken them within a year. Half of the remainder,
when quizzed, admitted to having oral sex, and half the entire group thought
oral sex did not amount to breaking your pledge. (The study has two more years
to run.) The pledges were successful in delaying the average age of first sexual
intercourse from 16 1/2 years by one year to 17 1/2 years.
But abstinence supporters hail the Bush-endorsed ‘Choosing the Best’ abstinence-only campaign as a ‘phenomenal success’ and report lots of successful abstinence pledges in many schools. They did concede that further discussion of the risks of oral sex must be included in future.
For these ‘no-sexers’, abstinence is the only way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections. Abstinence-only prevention does not advocate or demonstrate contraceptive use. It aims to encourage total risk elimination through abstinence until marriage, or until a monogamous relationship ‘as is typically found in marriage’, is entered into. To avoid alienating young gay men and lesbians, abstinence-only supporters emphasise that all teens need this message, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Central to abstinence-only education is the discussion of ‘Risks, Healthy versus Unhealthy Relationships, and Refusal Skills’ with the ultimate goal of no sexual activity for teens of school age until a young person is self-sufficient.
Many criticise such abstaining advocates as a bunch of reactionary, conservative, religious fundamentalists intent on using ‘scare tactics’ to teach teens to be terrified about ever having sex or getting a nasty disease.
Jim Pickett, US health promotion expert:“I can tell you that there is NO DATA to suggest that our US ‘Abstinence only’ programmes work. The data suggests quite strongly that they, in fact, do not work. And there is good data that shows comprehensive sex education - with abstinence information included - works, and works well. The issue is not discussing abstinence; the issue is ONLY discussing abstinence, which is essentially encouraging ignorance. We know that kids who go through comprehensive sex education actually delay their first experience of sex by over a year compared to kids who don’t have this education. We also know that they are more likely to use protection when they do have sex.”
Sean Barry, Policy Coordinator, US Student Global Aids Campaign“Not only do ‘virginity pledges’ not work in many cases, they are actually harmful because those who sign them are less likely to use contraceptives once they do start to have sex. Moreover, the pledges are a seemingly harmless part of a broader and pernicious strategy of keeping young people in the dark about their sexual health; a strategy that includes things like abstinence-only sex education or blocking the availability of condoms in some instances.
The reasons I think the pledges are being pushed in my country as a valid public health programme is because they’re a way for those who are uncomfortable about sexuality to pretend young people aren’t ‘doing it’. In a time of rising HIV and STI rates in the US, it’s deadly to promote health programmes that are based on ideology instead of science.
For something as important and complex as choices about my sexual health, it trivialises that decision-making to ask me to sign my name on a piece of paper. And what happens if I don’t? What do my parents, church, or teachers think?”
Additionally, virginity pledges and abstinence-only education reflect and reinforce discrimination against gay youth in American society because they aren’t legally allowed to get married.
In the US you can get a job when you’re 14, drive in most states when you’re 16, join the military when you’re 17, but you’re not respected enough to be told the facts when it comes to sex or encouraged to make well-informed, mature decisions. Instead, too many are just given a pledge card to sign, given partial information about STIs that is meant to scare rather than enlighten, told that condoms aren’t all that effective, and instructed that the only responsible decision to make is to completely abstain from sex until marriage. I can’t help but be outraged when I think about that kind of attitude and approach.”
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 From America, Uganda and South Africa, some of the abstinence campaigns and information that have made an impact on teenagers |
Melissa Dear, Communications Manager, fpa (Family Planning Association):“As far as the fpa is concerned, abstinence leaves young people more vulnerable and we do not support abstinence-only education. Our research shows that if you follow the abstinence approach, when a young person does have sex, he or she is far less likely to use preventative methods and therefore is more open to risk. It is true to say, however, that the younger a person has sex, the more likely they are to regret it.
What we recommend is comprehensive sex and relationships education so a young person can choose when they want to have sex. The discussion of abstinence should just be a part of good sex and relationships education. We need to give young people much better strategies to help them resist peer pressure.
In Africa where abstinence (or ABC campaigns - Abstain, Be Faithful, use a Condom) has really worked, this is because the culture is so different. Firstly, young people don’t often have access to condoms and secondly the choice is between casual sex or HIV - the latter equates with death - so a teenager is going to opt for abstinence above death, obviously. But this approach is just not appropriate here in the West.
UK teenage pregnancy rates are in decline in the under 18s since 1998 and young people are using contraception more, so the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is working. But the problem is young people still aren’t taking on board the message to use condoms, and it’s true that there has been an alarming increase in STIs which we must address. More young people know about sexual infections and this is reflected in more of them actually getting tested and checked out. This is a good thing, not a bad thing as some people have interpreted. It doesn’t necessarily mean young people are taking more risks.
Abstinence-only education also excludes a large number of people from its remit: those who are already having sex and, of course, young people who are lesbian and gay who don’t fit the marriage model.
The only solution to risk prevention for young people is to make Sex Relationships Education part of the national curriculum. That’s what we’re pressing for.”
Matthew Hodson, Director GMFA:“HIV organisations funded by Bush are forced to demonstrate a commitment to a moralistic mode of prevention, with abstinence being the preferred prophylactic. Health promotion agencies across the US have been advised to remove all references to gay sex from their funding applications so as not to alienate those who hold the purse-strings. Bush’s frightening brand of Christianity cannot tolerate a programme of HIV prevention that relies upon individual choice. An organisation such as GMFA, which has built its reputation on providing an honest, frank, sex positive approach, would not stand a chance in the funding climate that Bush has fostered.
Could the end justify the means? Early reports indicate that in the US the ‘Love Waits’ abstinence drive has hardly been a great success. These kids have very low levels of sexual knowledge so when they do fall off the wagon, as most of them do, they fall hard. The UK’s shameful record on teen pregnancy is dwarfed by the levels in the US.
At GMFA we do not presume to tell people, specifically gay men, what is right and wrong. We do not judge nor expect men, who do not even have the option of marriage in this country (yet), to lead lives of celibacy. Instead we try to inform gay men by using the kind of language around sex that we all understand, by celebrating sex between men rather than telling men that it is inherently wrong. We seek to empower gay men to make informed choices for themselves, driven by respect for themselves and others.”
Will Nutland, Head of Gay Men’s Health Promotion at THT:“The first question is: ‘does abstinence work?’ and there seems to be a growing body of evidence that suggests it doesn’t. The second question is ‘even if abstinence works, is it ethical?’ I think the answer to that is a definite ‘no’.
We live in a peculiar world where we drip-feed young people a diet of sexual innuendo and highly sexualised culture from an early age and then expect them not to be interested in being sexual. Is it any wonder that young people are confused? Rather than denying people the right to make informed sexual choices, as many abstinence programmes attempt to do, we should be working to ensure that people are well-informed about sex, are educated about how to have good sex, are able to say ‘no’ to sex they do not want and celebrating consensual sex as part of a full and rich healthy life.
Abstinence programmes can reinforce the concept that sex is bad or dirty or is something that should only be discussed with regard to procreation or within monogamous relationships. As such, abstinence programmes won’t reflect the reality of most people’s lives. If we teach people that they should not have sex, then who will they turn to for help and advice if they haven’t met this expectation, have taken risks and are concerned about what they have done?”
Jack Summerside, THT health promotion adviser:“I agree with one of the straplines in a new campaign from Condoms4life that says: ‘Abstinence has a high failure rate.’ This is an international Catholic HIV organisation that disagrees with the Vatican’s stance on condom use and promotes condom use in their ad poster campaign.
Two thousand years of moral messages have consistently failed in real life to control people’s sexual desires and behaviour. And I think the abstinence message fails particularly when those promoting it are, or appear to be, using the fear of HIV as a vehicle to justify promoting their existing beliefs about abstinence, rather than celibacy or monogamy being set forward as a realistic way for real people to avoid getting or passing on HIV.
Abstinence might suit some people, and I agree it can be proposed as an option for people to choose if they wish. But this has to be even-handed and in the context of other options.
Being driven into abstinence, or into attempting it in an environment where abstinence is heavily promoted, can be psychologically damaging for many individuals. They are being set up to fail and this makes it much harder for them to be reached by sexual health information and services which could play a real part in helping real people in reducing the spread of HIV and STIs.”
Clint Walters, Founder HIFY:“I don’t really agree with abstinence-only programmes but I do think that abstinence as a concept in sex education could be a choice to be discussed in conjunction with giving kids the facts. It is feasible that a realistic education programme that included the idea of perhaps putting off the first sexual encounter or having fewer partners might help. But the important thing is giving young people the information and risk education from the start.
In countries where they have early proper sex education this has shown young kids are more likely to use condoms and delay sex.
I don’t believe that if you inform people about the facts of sex, they then want to have more sex or take more risks! I mean, learning about Hitler at school doesn’t turn everyone into Nazis, does it?”
Everyone in schools and colleges say they don’t have enough sex education and the lessons aren’t compulsory at schools. They’re usually considered by most as a ‘bunk-off school lesson’.
The way information is presented is important. You have to get people addressing things that go on around actually having sex, like taking drugs and drinking, rather than just giving a biology lesson.
What if you’re a young gay man? No gay sex education means you’re kept in the dark about the risks.”
Becky Holman, history student at King’s College, London:“I don’t see how abstinence-only is a sufficient form of sex education because so many young people will just go on and have sex anyway, only this will be done in a furtive and secretive way. At the same time, these teenagers will have no idea about safe sex because it won’t be discussed at school. I went to a girl’s school and sex was discussed quite openly. We had specific sex education lessons but we were always free to ask questions outside of these classes and never felt stupid doing so. Young people are going to have sex no matter what they are taught at school, good sex education just ensures that they do so safely and responsibly.”
Sentamu Sparks, Ugandan IT student and member of TASO:“In Uganda there is access to lots of prevention information for young people in the cities. But not so in the rural areas where a lot of young people are illiterate and don’t have tv or radio. In these places myths abound like ‘we can’t use condoms because they have holes in them’ and there’s a suspicion about the new HIV drugs.
I am for the abstinence programme but I don’t agree with it entirely. We do need them, but we try and talk about encouraging people to ‘Be faithful AND Use condoms’ rather than completely support ‘zero grazing’.
Girls and boys are not sure at what age they should abstain up to. They often ask me: ‘Is it up until 12-13 years?’ I actually believe it’s safest to abstain until you’re 18. That’s the legal age of consent here in Uganda.”
