Sexual Socialisation in South Africa: A Historical Perspective

The HIV/AIDS pandemic in Southern Africa has focused attention on how children and youth learn about sex. This research has revealed an alarming failure of communication between parents and children on sexual issues. Parents find it very difficult to broach the issue of sex with their children who as a result have little option but to seek information elsewhere -- normally from their peers. There is also now a considerable body of work on sexual attitudes and practices which paints a bleak picture of contemporary realities. There are high levels of premarital sexual activity and teenage pregnancy. But perhaps most disturbing of all is the research on youth sexuality that suggests that sex -- especially for girls -- is often coercive and violent and that this is to some extent accepted as the norm by both males and females. While these patterns are increasingly well documented they have not been adequately explained. Some commentators have suggested that a promiscuous and violent sexual culture is primordial in Africa and that contemporary realities are an inevitable outcome. This point of view unsurprisingly has angered many people on the continent. It also contradicts historical evidence. (excerpt)