International Public Health Commons^™

The Changing Context Of Sexual Initiation In Sub-Saharan Africa, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Ann K. Blanc

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This working paper investigates the links between changing age at marriage and premarital sexual behavior in 27 sub-Saharan African countries in which Demographic and Health Surveys were conducted between 1994 and 2003. Using multiple-decrement life tables to examine the competing risks of premarital sex and marriage without prior sexual experience, we answer the largely unaddressed question of how reductions in the prevalence of early marriage have affected the likelihood of initiating premarital sex. Our analysis reveals that although the age of first sexual activity has either remained the same or increased, a shift in the context of sexual debut from …