SPAIN
Lack of information means 10,000 Spaniards need an
abortion each year. Most young people would like to talk about sex with
their parents
Study reveals that half of all
pregnant minors choose to terminate
Half of all teenage pregnancies end in abortion,
announced the president of the ‘Sociedad Española de Contracepción
(SEC)’ (the Spanish Contraception Society), Ezequiel Pérez, last week.
For 14 to 19 year olds, school and friends are the principal sources of
information about sex and contraception, with only two in every ten
discussing these issues with their parents. The lack of information
about methods of contraception has resulted in some 10,000 teenagers
resorting to an abortion annually. Of those, over half were unplanned
and unwanted. SEC’s president pointed out that this represented a 21 per
cent increase since 1997. According to, ‘Anticoncepción siglo XXI’ (21st
century contraception’), a report published by the Gallup Institute,
most teenagers first learn about sex in school, over half from their
teachers, followed by the school doctor (11.9 per cent) and friends
(17.1 per cent). Only 14.2 per cent learn the facts of lifefrom their
parents.
However, according to Ezequiel Pérez, it should be
remembered that teenagers are having sex at an earlier age all the time,
boys at an average age of 16.7 and girls at 17.2. Of those questioned,
24 per cent said that they were between the ages of 14 and 16 when they
first had sex; for 75 per cent, it happened between the ages of 17 and
19.
The study found that nine out of ten minors used a
condom when they first had sex, whilst 5.8 per cent did not, nor did
they use any other form of contraception. With time this response
increases to 24.9 per cent going without protection.
Fears
In all cases, the teenagers admitted fear of the condom and pill,
despite their being the most used methods of contraception. Over 80 per
cent are afraid the condom will break and 42.8 per cent fear forgetting
to take the pill. On the other hand, other more reliable methods, such
as the coil and hormonal patches, are practically unheard of.
Also emerging from the Gallup study is the fact that,
of the teenagers questioned, 44.8 per cent believe that it should be
their parents who speak to them about sex. The reality, however, is that
only 14.2 per cent have learnt about sexual relationships from them.
The study further reveals that of those questioned,
82.3 per cent were under 15 years of age when they first received
information about contraception; 15.9 per cent were between 15 and 16
years of age and 1.5 per cent were between 17 and 19 years of age.
To improve communciation between parents and their
children, SEC is rolling out the ‘Programa habla con ellos’ (‘Speak with
them’ programme). Through informative leaflets and a video, they invite
and show adults how to talk to their children about sex and sexual
relationships. The psychologist and sexual therapist, Teresa Vaquero,
advises parents to be natural, “above all, it is important to be
accessible and to respond naturally”. In her opinion, in order to help
teenagers enjoy responsible sexual relationships, sex needs to be talked
about in the home in the same way as football and politics are.
9 December 2005
http://www.surinenglish.com/noticias.php?Noticia=7498
