Take a moment to think about the people in your life and the types of relationships you have.
Be it their platonic relationships, sexual relationships with their partner, or their working relationship with their colleague.
It doesn’t matter whether they’re positive or negative, easy or difficult, sexual or not, they all have a powerful impact on us.
We are taught very different things about sex. For many people, sex education focuses on the moral aspects of sex or the repercussions of unprotected sex, such as unwanted pregnancies, STIs or HIV. What far too many of us aren’t taught about is relationships and sex, as well as the physical and emotional side of sex.
Zonja Penzhorn, head of communications at Shout-It-Now, says too few of us are taught that any relationship with another person should leave you feeling good about yourself; that you can and should walk away if a situation makes you uncomfortable; and that relationships should be a complement to your life, not a complication.
Learning about healthy relationships should teach you how to speak more openly about what it means to be in a healthy relationship, what they should look like, and how they should make you feel. This in turn can help many young people to better understand their options, so they can decide what’s right for them.
“When you are judged or harmed, for no justifiable reason or made to feel unworthy, you don’t have to stay and conform – it’s okay to walk away,” said Penzhorn in a statement.
She goes on to suggest that having these open discussions with children early on is crucial because it teaches them about their worth and how to surround themselves with supportive adults. Youth may then pick what is comfortable for them and steer clear of unhealthy behaviours thanks to their sense of self-worth. This is true for both platonic and romantic relationships.
It is important for us to speak more openly about sex, particularly within the context of relationships, and include it in everyday conversation, and we provide a vocabulary to help youth better understand it, as well as what potential health risks their choices could pose, and then explore ways to reduce them.
She continues by stating that talking to a professional not only provides young people with knowledge but also lessens the likelihood that they will feel confused or embarrassed about what they don’t understand, and we all know that once someone doesn’t fully comprehend, they are less likely to seek help in the future.
Case in point the language around HIV and GBV prevention can be technical and hard to understand for the youth. If they don’t understand something, they won’t listen, they won’t participate in the discussion and they ultimately won’t know how to protect themselves.
“We need the youth, particularly girls and young women between the ages of 15–24, to understand the risks of sex and unhealthy relationships and understand how to protect themselves.”
According to UNaids, the Aids epidemic claimed a life per minute on average in 2021, with 650 000 Aids deaths, despite the availability of effective HIV medication and resources for the detection, prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections.
HIV and gender-based violence have a disproportionately negative impact on this vulnerable age group. Six out of every seven new HIV infections among teenagers aged 15 to 19 in sub-Saharan Africa are among girls, according to UNaids.
Additionally, young men in the same age range are twice as likely as girls and young women to be HIV-positive. According to Statistics South Africa’s most recent data, 90 037 girls between the ages of 10 and 19 gave birth in the nation between March 2021 and April 2022.
According to Shout-It-Now’s head of communications, if we want this vulnerable group to listen, we must understand their wants and desires, and speak to them – not at them.
This month’s focus on World Aids Day and the 16 Days of Activism provides an opportunity to address the disparities that are delaying the fight to eradicate Aids.
Equality begins with equal access to fundamental HIV services and equal access to information that is provided in a manner that is accessible to all people, even though it can be difficult to determine whether the issue in South Africa is one of information availability or acceptance of this information.
According to Penzhorn, when you start normalising the talk about relationships and sexual health, you make sure that everyone is included in it and you raise the possibility that young people, who are most vulnerable to HIV, will learn how to stay healthy.
Read the latest issue of IOL Health digital magazine here.