While Africa's youth are clued up about having protected sex, many still believe a man “owns” a woman if he pays lobola and a significant number did not get tested for HIV in the past year, or are afraid of knowing their status.
These are some of the findings in the latest YoungAfricaLive (YAL) Youth Sex Survey, conducted by the Praekelt Foundation. The survey asked close to one million users on the YAL mobile platform their views on issues including love, sex, relationships, culture and heritage.
Based on more than 50 questions and over 170 000 responses by YAL's user community, the sex survey offers a snapshot of young Africans' views through the use of mobile-based polls.
“This tension between being young and living fully in the digital age and coming from families and communities where culture and religion are still important is amply reflected in this year's survey,” says Praekelt Foundation founder, Gustav Praekelt.
Here are 10 findings that demonstrate this clash between a connected youth and the strong influence culture, religion and older generations still have over them:
1) The majority of those in the connected generation (71%) said it was too risky to have sex with someone they met online. Some 14% said they had and were now in a relationship with the person; 6% said they had and it ended badly, and 7% ultimately didn't but came dangerously close.
2) More than 50% of young South Africans believe there is never a good reason to have an abortion, no matter what the circumstances. Other responses indicated an abortion is the right choice for terminating an unwanted pregnancy when: a woman was raped (26%); a woman was raped - or even if she willingly had unprotected sex and fell pregnant (6%); a woman was raped - or if she had protected sex, but the condom broke or the contraceptive pill failed (12%).
3) Some 41% of respondents believe the annual Reed Dance is important to preserve culture, while 58% said it had no place in the modern world.
4) An overwhelming 80% hold the view that lobola is not outdated and should be valued as “part of our heritage and culture”, with only 19% saying paying a dowry for a bride is sexist and demeaning.
5) In response to a question related to a recent incident where a gang-raped teen's perpetrators were caught on video, the majority of respondents said the crime revealed “a real problem with the way some guys relate to women”. Some 22% believed the perpetrators were not raised properly and 27% said it showed how young people would do anything to record it on their cellphones and show it to their friends.
6) In a question that was also asked in 2011, users were questioned about getting tested for HIV. This year, 32% of YAL users did not want to know their HIV-status, compared to 31% last year, even though actual user numbers for the poll increased in 2012.
7) Almost half the respondents (44%) said sex instruction didn't come from elders or society, but “just happened". Only 7% reported learning about sex from their parents, and double that amount said it was from a friend. More than a third (34%) learned about the birds and the bees from a TV show, movie or magazine.
8) Strong gender stereotypes were also evidenced, with the majority of poll respondents (44%) saying it does matter how many people a woman has slept with, as this shows “she has no morals”. Another 34% said it's her choice as long as she is safe.
9) There are also alternate views about a woman's right to wear skimpy clothes, with 25% believing women should dress appropriately; 39% saying it is her right to choose; and 35% saying that even if it is her right, she should consider the consequences.
10) When asked if young South Africans face a crossroad between their culture and the ways of the West, 38% said the differences keep growing wider and that they're stuck in the middle. Some 14% said it is possible to embrace both traditional culture and western values, and 46% said it's easier to make choices that are supported by their parents and elders - but that they're being exposed to choices their parents never had to make.
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