Sex Education

The majority of studies have shown that sex education programs of adequate duration, content, and methodology are effective in reducing pregnancy and abortion. Programs with greater effectiveness are those that promote responsibility, abstinence, and (for those who are sexually active) protection against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Successful programs combine the promotion of mutual respect and gender power balance with knowledge of sexual and reproductive physiology and sexually transmitted infection, knowledge that is mostly lacking, particularly among young people in developing countries. Contrary to the fears of some people, sex education does not increase sexual activity or promote early sexual experimentation; on the contrary, it may encourage adolescents to postpone the initiation of sexual activity, thus reducing the proportion of adolescents who have sexual relations. The countries with the lowest abortion rates are those that have broad-based, progressive sex education programs in their schools and nearly universal school attendance.
The Netherlands and several European Nordic countries fulfilling these conditions have the lowest teen abortion and teen pregnancy rates. This has been achieved through implementation of comprehensive sex education; confidential, high-quality family planning services; and access to a wide selection of contraceptive methods. Age of first intercourse has remained unchanged in these countries, but contraceptive use has increased dramatically. For instance, a study in Finland showed that in 1997, 87% of sexually active 16-year-old girls had used a condom during their last intercourse. These data suggest that sex education is an effective intervention for reducing gender power imbalance and promoting mutual respect concerning sexual decisions, a basic factor in the efforts to reduce unwanted pregnancy and abortion. In contrast, countries that have a high abortion rate either have no sex education programs or have local programs that are narrow in scope. The emergency created by the HIV epidemic has stimulated the acceptance of sex education, but the lack of both adequately trained personnel and strong political support reduces the effectiveness of the few programs that are being implemented.