Young population, sexually-transmitted diseases and rights. National and regional scenario in Argentina

Abstract

In the context of social and demographic studies of sexual and reproductive health, this paper discusses the situation of young people in Argentina, emphasizing the problems revolving around Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and the compliance with sexual rights. This work aims to study the calendars and characteristics of the onset of sexual life in young Argentinean people and to describe the current situation of knowledge, practices, and access related to sexual life. Based on data from the National Survey on Sexual and Reproductive Health (2013) we worked with the universe of young people between 15 and 29 years of age (n = 2,084 women, n = 1,872 men, without weighting) and analyzed the differences in the calendars of the onset of sexual life, as well as the knowledge and prevention of STDs by gender sex, age groups, household income and geographical regions.A national scenario was found featuring marked tendencies in the calendars of first sexual intercourse by gender sex, as well as in the knowledge about STDs. However, the analysis by region and household income in each gendersex showed high heterogeneities, which would indicate certain limitations in the access to sexual education and the effective compliance of people’s rights, as well as an increased risk to contracting STDs in specific social groups.