Community sex education among adolescents in rural Uganda: utilizing indigenous institutions

• Published in: AIDS care Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 69 - 79
• Main Authors: Muyinda, H., Nakuya, J., A. G. Whitworth, J., Pool, R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon healthsciences 01.01.2004; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Adolescent; Adolescent girls; Adolescent Health Services - utilization; Adolescents; AIDS; AIDS/HIV; Biological and medical sciences; Community based programmes; Community Health Workers; counseling; Counseling - methods; Counseling - utilization; Female; Females; Health care; Health Services, Indigenous - utilization; HIV; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Native peoples; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Prevention; Prevention and actions; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Rural areas; Rural Health; Sex Education; Sex Education - methods; Sexual health; Socialization; Specific populations (family, woman, child, elderly...); Teenagers; Uganda; Women's Health Services - utilization; Uganda; Africa; Human; Social environment; Immunopathology; Rural environment; Sexual behavior; AIDS; Immune deficiency; Infection; Prevention; Sexually transmitted disease; Education; Viral disease; Cultural environment; Adolescent; Public health
• ISSN: 0954-0121; 1360-0451
• DOI: 10.1080/09540120310001633985

Although adolescent girls in Uganda are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection, providing relevant sexual health education to them is problematic. The senga (father's sister), is the traditional channel for socializing adolescent girls into sex and marriage among many ethnic groups in Uganda. This paper discusses the implementation and community acceptability of 'modern' sengas who were trained to provide HIV-related counselling to adolescent girls. Fourteen sengas were trained in two villages and, in the course of the 1-year study, 247 individuals made a total of 403 visits to them. By including both traditional services (such as advice on and assistance with labial elongation) and modern health and sex education, the sengas provided a 'middle road' between tradition and modernity. As a result, despite initial suspicion by the community, their activities were supported by the community generally and effective as intervention.