A study of sexuality of adolescent girls and boys in underprivileged groups in Bombay.

Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to study the sexuality of adolescent girls and boys in a Bombay slum as a preliminary step in the development of a family life educational program with an AIDS prevention module for low-income adolescent girls. The study involved the entire population in the six settlements of the Marol area of Andheri a suburb of Bombay. The 1534 households were surveyed to gather background data on the communities while focus groups interviews observation and a baseline survey gained insight into the daily lives friendships interests level of knowledge about reproductive physiology and sex sexual activity and health problems of adolescent girls and boys in the area. The households generally live in one-room tenements with a floor area of approximately 150 square feet. 7.2% of the boys and 16.5 of the girls were literate and 10.4% of the boys and 8.4% of the girls were studying in the tenth standard. Findings are presented on adolescents level of knowledge on puberty sexual aspects of marriage reproduction STDs and AIDS and family planning methods as well as their values opinions and perceptions of love marriages future life partners the notion of bad girls and bad boys and restrictions on girls. Direct evidence about actual sexual behavior could not be collected but inferences are drawn from observations made in the field and interviews with key informants in the area. It seems from the focus groups that adolescent girls in the Marol area of Andheri are ill-informed about reproductive physiology sexual aspects of marriage AIDS and STDs. The boys are better informed but nonetheless somewhat misinformed. Of particular interest medical practitioners reported STDs to be rampant in the area with infected people tending to delay treatment. Only 13 of the 125 boys and 8 of the 85 girls surveyed however had heard of STDs. Men and boys of the area generally went far away to have sex with prostitutes. Implications for STD/AIDS prevention are discussed.