By Favour Unoh & Amé Atsu David
Global Fund for Children
Editor's note: This blog post was compiled by Favour Unoh, 17, a member of the Adolescent Influencers Movement from Nigeria, and Amé Atsu David, Regional Co-Director for Africa at Global Fund for Children.
Ahead of the second edition of the West Africa Adolescent Girls Summit, adolescents and youth aged 13-25 are boldly stepping forward to challenge societal taboos surrounding sexuality. They are sending messages to parents and other stakeholders that the taboos and the lack of comprehensive sexuality education are putting them at risk.
Youth perspectives on sexuality education
"Most parents do not give their children the proper information about sex education, thereby making them take wrong decisions and believe myths about sex."
- Obiorah Ruth Awele, 16, Nigeria
"Growing up, the only thing I knew about sexual education was that a boy is never allowed to touch me, or else I'll get pregnant. Even in school, it felt like it was very abominable to talk about sex. The lack of information was one of the reasons why boys teased girls for menstruating."
- Favour Unoh, 18, Nigeria
"In one of the schools I attended, they refused to teach on sexual education as they saw it as a sin. Some parents suggested it to the school that it should be introduced, but it was rejected."
- Fakanbi Ogeoluwa, 19, Nigeria
"Most people were not taught comprehensive sexuality education and that has led them to make the wrong decisions in terms of sexual activities. A lack of knowledge has led to a lack of information about their body parts."
- Jonathan Kargbo, 20, Sierra Leone
"It is considered as a taboo in our various societies to discuss sexuality education. Even in some schools, teachers will skip the topic and it won't be taught."
- Abubakarr Kabba, 16, Sierra Leone
"We can't blame our parents because what they believe is based on the type of education they had and the way they were brought up. For them, they think the best way they can advise their kids is to practice abstinence, which is why it should be our duty to change the narrative."
- Khalida Tamu, 19, Sierra Leone
"For me while I was growing up, my grandmother always told me to stay away from boys because they will ruin your life without giving me reasons why I should do that. Growing up, I found it hard to communicate freely or build a relationship with boys."
- Mabinty Koroma, 23, Sierra Leone
By sharing their experiences, adolescents and youth seek to reclaim agency over their sexual and reproductive health and rights journey, advocating for an inclusive, informative, and rights-based approach that caters to their specific needs and concerns.
Originally published on Global Fund for Children