Juvenile sex and unsafe abortion; the trauma of the Nigerian Teenage girl

Juvenile sex and unsafe abortion; the trauma of the Nigerian Teenage girl
By Evelyn Okakwu
According to the group;Young woman, Nigeria (Youth Coalition 2007):
"Unsafe abortion has eaten into our society, gradually destroying the
lives of young women, as people have closed their eyes at the issue
hoping it will disappear; but on the other hand they are also directly
and indirectly worsening the situation."
it is a universal truth that moral ethics will not permit a woman the
right to any form of abortion, as abortion is regarded to be the act
of terminating a potential life: A situation which puts the
woman at the ugly position of subjecting the needs of her unborn baby
to her own needs.
unfortunately, however, with the passing of time; facts and figures
have also indicated that this single act of stereotypic conclusion,
which, though born out of love for the dignity of human life, but
caries a trace of inadequacy, has unconsciously led to the loss of an
even greater number of human life.
Yet still, the life lost is none other than that of the woman, or girl
child who's vulnerability ratio to sexual acts of various form and
consequently unwanted pregnancies, is at an unprecedented increase.
A survey conducted by the  world health organization in 2007 revealed
the following:
 "That over 25% of adolescents in Nigeria have their first sexual
intercourse by the age of 15; that by the age of 18 years, over 60% of
adolescents have had sexual intercourse (What this means is that while
a reasonable number of young Nigerians experience their firsts sexual
intercourse which may inevitable result in cases of pregnancy; most of
which are for one reason or the other unwanted or unexpected, an even
greater number (35 per cent increase) of this young ones get involved
in sexual acts within this dangerously adventurous 365 days of their
lives (between ages 15-16) The survey also revealed that; First sex is
often experimentation, and adolescents usually do not prepare for it
nor take any protective
measure".
Evidently the likelihood of an unwanted pregnancy at this stage cannot
be avoided. More so, the likelihood of these young ones to become open
to various forms of scrutiny and possible stigmatization for getting
pregnant (especially the women) cannot be over emphasized.
In this conversation with a group of parents on the possible reactions
for such an involvement by their child, they had this to say;
Mrs Rosemary Ezekude spoke first on the issue "Well first of all you
cannot expect me to congratulate a girl who decides to abuse what I am
doing to make her life better by getting pregnant, I will certainly be
furious. I have in fact warned my children to be careful because I
will not allow anyone to make me a laughing stock in the society. Why
should a young girl be having sex when she is only
fifteen or sixteen, she should be patient till she is old enough to
face the consequence of her actions. I will not in any way tolerate
that from my children, I have enough headache catering for their needs
I will not have them add more worries to my pack of headache".

In a similar manner Mrs Jenifer Dauda an Air force official, had this
to say: For what reason will I want to tolerate such nonsense from my
child, I will not even have her tell me that rubbish, when I have told
her time and time again to keep herself, why will she bring me such
trouble? I may not kill her but I am, sure she knows I will make her
pay for such rubbish, the problem with our time is that youths are
getting more and more involved in the assumption that then have the
right to do all sorts of things, if my child admits her mistake; I may
be a little lenient, but if she dares to tell me that it is as a
result of a social right,
God knows she will have to pay for that by matching those rights with
responsibilities.
While it is not out of place to match a right with responsibility, the
tone of this woman and certainly that of her partner above does not
only suggest an impending danger for the potentially pregnant
adolescent girl; it also explains why most young girls would rather
hide cases of similar pregnancies from their parents who would rather
have been in good light to guard them at such turbulent times.
Nevertheless countless of these young ones have persistently engaged
in this sexual acts which have resulted invariably in various forms of
unwanted pregnancies. Evidently a larger chunk of them, would rather
prefer to handle this recent responsibility personally, not
withstanding their overwhelming level of ignorance on the issue.
More often than not, they resort to the nearest source of help where
condemnation or stigmatization will be less. The peer influences hear
comes to play.
In this report by Ipas; a none governmental organization that seeks to
provide greater insight into the
reproductive rights of women, the confession of two young ladies
caught in the web of sexual abuse and its effect went thus: "After he
forced me to have sex, he started sending my friend, a girl, to talk
to me, because he knew I was mad at him and did not want to see him
again. My friend convinced me that such things happen to every girl,
so I should get used to it. So I forgave the boy and went back." (Girl
aged 15, Edo)
The confession of the second lady went thus  "One day, he told me that
he wanted to introduce me to his relatives who would help in getting
us married: I went there. He was alone. He locked the door; he
threatened me saying how could he marry me if I behaved like this. He
beat me when I tried to get out "(Girl aged 19 Kaduna)
Obviously, the experience of these young ladies are similar to that of
many young women in our time.
The incidences of rape and other forms of promiscuous sex among youths
have persistently resulted in countless unwanted pregnancies. And
since most parents may not understand, the future of the girl
child is put at stake;  but more at stake is her very life which is
left in the hands of her  naive self and that of her equally ignorant
peer; and at a time when rational ideology would have inclined her the
safe
haven of her parents or older experiences.
Whether the cause of un unwanted pregnancy was rape or juvenile
behavior; the tendency of the girl child to want to do away with the
pregnancy is in more cases than not, high.
According to: Bankole, (2006) and Henshaw et al., (1998) "1 in 10
Nigerian women has an abortion in her lifetime. Also, there are
760,000 abortions cases every year in Nigeria 60 per cent of which are
unsafe. At least 3,000 Nigerians die of unsafe abortion every year;
with more than eight deaths per day".
in the words of Barrister Hauwa Shekarau, senior advisor legal systems
Ipas;   "The legal indications for abortion in Nigeria are quite
restrictive: to save the woman's life; found in the Criminal codes
section 228 to section 230 and section 297, for the South and the
penal code section 232 and 233, which are applicable in the North. The
consequence of the restrictive nature of these laws, she notes is
that:
"Women who do not fall under these indications are left to their own
devices. Those who are not economically empowered resort to quacks and
herbalists; Thus making unsafe abortion silent and persistent".
According to Dr Kailani Ahmadu, senior advisor, Health systems Ipas;
"The restrictive nature of the
acts relating to abortion has led a lot of young vulnerable youths to
resort to the use of dangerous equipments for performing abortion.
This equipments range from Alligator pepper, native chalk, native
alum, among others, and are capable of destroying the woman's
reproductive organ and her life as a whole".
These means that while the world looks to these young ones as
irresponsible and even condemnable for their mistakes, their unguided
steps to win again the trust of their loved ones and indeed their
pride in the society causes them to make greater and certainly more
grave mistakes.
This is why the need to ensure a wide reach of youth awareness to
health safety habits to prevent these unwanted pregnancies becomes
inevitable.
Ipas outlines these steps as features of a youth with a healthy sexual
balance. They include the fact that a sexually healthy youth must be
able to;
Accepts responsibility for his or her behavior; Identify personal values.
Decide what it is 'right' (That is whether sex is right) for her or
himself and acts on these value; Understands the consequences of
actions; Understands that media messages can create unrealistic
expectations related to sexuality and intimate relationships; Is able
to distinguish personal desires from desires of peers; Is
knowledgeable about sexuality issues; Enjoys sexual feelings without
necessarily acting upon them; Understands the consequences of sexual
behaviors; Understands his or her own gender identity ;Seeks further
information about sexuality as needed.
 It is the collective responsibility, both of the youth and the parent
or guardian to analyze these steps and heed them for a safer future of
our next generation