Unwanted Sexual Experiences among Adolescent Males in Sub-Saharan Africa: Prevalence and Context

Ann M Moore, Guttmacher Institute
Nyovani Madise, University of Southampton

Unwanted sexual experiences are most frequently examined from the woman’s perspective yet these experiences happen to men as well. Unwanted sexual experiences are connected over an individual’s lifetime to demographic and health outcomes such as STI exposure, including HIV, as well as negative psychological effects that place males at risk of future negative health outcomes.1 Using a unique set of data collected in 2003-2004 in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Uganda and Malawi with 12-19 year olds via in-depth interviews and nationally-representative surveys, we present prevalence statistics on sexual coercion at debut as well as over their life course, boys’ narratives of experiencing coercive sexual intercourse experiences, and the risk and protective factors that frame boys’ vulnerability to unwanted sexual intercourse. Between 4-12% of 12-19 year old boys state that they were “not willing at all” at sexual debut and between 3-7% say that they have ever been forced to have sex.