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Abstract BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Several studies have shown that nonconsensual sex among young people in Kenya is relatively common, especially for girls but also for boys. In particular, first sexual experience is likely to be nonconsensual, and so may influence the person’s future perceptions of appropriate sexual behavior and expression of their sexuality. This paper draws on data collected during a baseline survey for an adolescent reproductive health intervention in Western Province of Kenya; over 3,500 adolescents aged 10–19 years were individually interviewed, including 951 boys and 2,571 girls, drawn randomly from all households with adolescents in this age range. The objectives of the study were to determine the type of sexual activities experienced, the nature and consensuality of first and subsequent intercourse, experiences with forced sex, and the correlates of perpetrating or suffering nonconsensual sex among boys. RESULTS: The study confirmed that for sexually experienced girls, almost 40 percent were coerced at first intercourse, including those in romantic relationships, and that 10 percent of boys reported being coerced; 45 percent of girls reported ever experiencing nonconsensual sex. The study highlights the role played by "sweet talking" and persuasion through gifts or money, and explores the often ambiguous way in which these approaches to initiating romantic relationships and/or sexual experiences play out in this social context. Forced first time sex was reported by 16 percent of girls and 4 percent of boys, and the implications of these findings are explored with reference to qualitative data collected simultaneously. The sexual experiences of boys were examined in more detail—21 percent reported ever having persuaded or forced a girl to have sex, and 17 percent reported ever having themselves been persuaded or forced, with 10 percent reporting both experiences. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify the correlates of boys' reporting perpetrating or suffering coerced sex. Boys who witnessed violence and discord among parents, who held traditional gender role attitudes, and who were out of school were significantly more likely to coerce a girl to engage in sex than were other boys; moreover, those whose initiation was early and unwanted, or occurred with someone other than a girlfriend appeared to be significantly more likely to have ever persuaded or forced a girl to have sex than others. A significant finding was the link between the experience of coerced first sex and subsequent perpetration of forced sex. The paper will also discuss a number of methodological problems with undertaking research into adolescent sexual behavior, in particular the importance of the use of nuanced language when asking questions about sexual behaviors, understanding the role of gift giving and receiving in the context of initiating relationships, both consensual and nonconsensual, and the difficulties in detecting and describing same-sex sexual experiences and in determining whether these were coerced or voluntary. This page updated |
