Girls In Costa Rica Begin Having Sex At 12
Years of Age, Study Reveals
A recent study by the Asociación Demográfica
Costarricense (ADC) reveals that girls in
Costa Rica begin their sexual life at the
tender age of 12. A decade earlier, the same
study revealed that the average age was 16.
The study took in the results of an
interview last month of 1.200 women between
the ages of 15 and 49 in all areas of the
country. The ADC also reports that the
average age of the male partner ranges
between 22 and 28, that is, adults
interacting with children.
The study also shows that 43% of the women
interviewed did not want their last
pregnancy and that 81% of the women between
18 and 44 use some form of contraception.
The women were also asked of their position
on abortion.
In 1999, 55% said they were totally against
abortion, while a 37.7% were moderaely
against. Today, only 25.4% say are against
abortion, while 29.6% moderately against.
The women interviewed stressed that women
should have the option of abortion when the
mother's life is in danger, the woman is
raped, when testing reveals malformations in
the fetus, the pregnancy is a result of
incest or if it involves a child pregnancy
and when a woman wishes it.
Cristhian Gómez, head of the project for the
ADC, says that the lack of sex education in
the schools and homes is responsible for the
high number of unwanted pregnancies, as well
as the lack of use of contraception, like
the condom that can also avoid the spread of
sexually transmitted disease.
Gómez added that there is marked reduction
in pregnancies when sex education is offered
in the schools and there is no religious
interferenced.
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