Region VII Youth Today: Risk Behavior of Young People in Central Visayas

Sources of information about sex • 47.7 percent of Region VII youth do not have any source of information about sex. ⚫ Friends of the same sex, medical professionals, and mothers are the most preferred sources of information about sex and reproduction. • 51.4 percent of the youth reported that they can find help in school regarding sex- related problems, with their classmates as the leading source of such support. • Only nine in 100 youth have discussed sex at home while growing up. at home • More male youth discuss sex at home with their brothers; the female youth with their mothers. Sex and media • 34.5 percent of Region VII youth have read pornographic materials (38.4 percent among males and 30.2 percent among females), which is below the national level. • 62.4 percent have watched x-rated movies and videos (76.0 percent among males and 47.5 percent among females), the third highest among all regions in the country. The youth also engage in other media- related sexual activities. o 16 in 100 have visited websites with sexually-explicit content. o 22 in 100 have sent or received sex videos through cellphones or internet o 1.3 percent have recorded themselves having sex. o 3.5 percent had sex with someone they met online or through text messages. o Nearly 1 in 10 has engaged in phone sex. Sexual risks • Two in five youth in the region have sexual experience. Region VII youth engage in sex at young ages. o The mean age at first sex is 17.6 years for males and 18.1 years for females. o Nearly 3 in 100 male youth and 1 in 100 female youth had sex before age 15. o 22 percent of the male youth and 18.2 percent of the female youth had sex before age 18. • More than one in three youth had engaged in sex before marriage, the fourth highest in the country. are • 7 in 10 first premarital sexual encounters unprotected against unintended pregnancy and/or STIs. Withdrawal is the most common method used by those who used some methods of contraception. • There is a low level of commercial sex activities, most of which are unprotected. Among the youth in Region VII, 1.2 percent have paid for sex and 1.7 percent have paid for received payment for sex in 2013. • The youth have also engaged in other sexual activities with low level of protection against unintended pregnancy and STIs. ○ 5.1 percent of the youth have engaged in casual sex. o 3.2 percent of the youth, mostly males also have FUBU. o 4.0 percent of male youth have engaged in sex with a fellow male. o 2.1 percent of married youth (including those in living-in arrangement) have engaged in extramarital sex. Teenage fertility . Sharp rise in teenage fertility in the past decade. o 11.2 percent of females aged 15-19 are already mothers. o 1.9 percent of females aged 15-19 were pregnant with their first child at the time of the survey interview. o 13.1 percent of females aged 15-19 have begun childbearing.

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