Amir Hodzic -Croatia - Proposal A05148 "Urgently claiming the future: Focus on gender for safer sexual relationships"
In Croatia, traditional sex roles are continually reinforced - conservative
attitudes towards sexuality and women continue, sex education is rare, and
activities for youth are limited. Gender (inequalities foster risky sexual
behaviours among youth: poor awareness of RH, accompanied by early sexual
debut, and considerable experience of risky sexual behaviours has been documented.
This research, initiated in 2001, intends to explore gender perceptions and
attitudes of young people, and the ways in which they influence sexual risk
behaviours. This study focuses on adolescents between 16-17 years old in four
big Croatian cities: Split, Rijeka, Osijek, and Zagreb. The study design includes
three phases: (1) a qualitative phase comprising six focus group discussions
(FGDs) intended to explore adolescent perceptions, the terminology used, and
to inform the construction of a self-administered survey questionnaire, (2)
a survey using self-completed questionnaires, of 995 adolescents (472 females
and 523 males) drawn from grammar schools, technical and related schools,
in addition to industrial and craft schools in the four cities, (3) the presentation
of the findings at participatory workshops with young people to explore the
meaning and implications of the results for them.
The findings from FGDs point to significant gender disparities with regards
to communication issues, negotiating and making decisions about sex, and pressures
related to sexual experience. Double standards regarding gender often contribute
to misconceptions and a lack of understanding when communicating about sex
especially concerning contraception, as both girls and boys face obstacles
in negotiating sex. Young men tend to initiate sex more often and take a more
active role in the decision-making process, while young women are more likely
to experience pressure from their partner to consent to sex. At the same time,
for young males, sexual experience is often considered imperative reflected
and reinforced through peer group norms and media representations. In addition,
young people recognize that most media images present women and men in stereotypical
gender roles, in an over-sexualized, and unrealistic manner.
Likewise, findings from the questionnaire underline the significance of gender
differences in adolescents' attitudes and behavioral patterns. Adolescents'
attitudes and beliefs about social positioning of women and men in the Republic
of Croatia mainly reflect traditional divisions of gender roles embedded in
inequalities. In spite of this confirmation of traditional gender roles, some
deliberations of adolescents (girls more so than boys) mark openings for change.
With regards to young people's attitudes concerning the importance of different
aspects of sexual relations, our results show that young men tend to emphasize
the physical aspects of a sexual relations, whereas for young women, the emotional
and/or relationship qualities of sex are stated as more important. Concerning
adolescents' perceptions of the potential outcome of unprotected sex (as in
a 'one night stand') both girls and boys agree that a girl is more likely
to worry about the consequences of unsafe sex.
One half of the boys and one third of the girls from our sample reported experiencing
sexual intercourse. Young women tended to start a 'sexual life' later than
young men (the mean age of first experiencing sexual intercourse is 15.7 and
15 respectively), with an older partner (the mean partner age is 17.9). Moreover,
for girls, first intercourse most often happens in a steady relationship.
On the other hand, for many young men their first experience of sexual intercourse
is part of a 'casual' sexual encounter, often accompanied with prior consumption
of drugs or alcohol. However, more boys than girls reported using a condom
during their first experience of sex (68% and 58% respectively).
Our results indicate that young women, while being over-represented in having
a steady sexual relationship, are also more inclined to discuss the importance
of safer sex and condom use. However, in the context of steady relationship,
girls show a greater tendency to use coitus interruptus as a method of contraception
than boys. With reference to condom use in this kind of relationship, 48%
of young men and 36% of young women reported always using a condom. Moreover,
our findings suggest that young people who are more likely to discuss condom
use with their partners, also tend to use a condom more than those adolescents
who do not talk about this issue. The most common reasons for not using a
condom in steady sexual relationships, as identified by young men, are trust,
greater pleasure, and use of coitus interruptus. For young women, the reasons
for not using a condom in a steady relationship are they trust their partner,
'because of a boyfriend', and wanting to have a child and marry their partner.
These findings are intended to inform sexual education programmes, more specifically
in the ways in which they address gender norms and behaviours, and to raise
awareness among youth about the ways in which gendered attitudes and expectations
affect sexual risk behaviours, and their ability to protect themselves from
unsafe sex.