Chapter 4

Chapter 4

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

AND MEDICAL SERVICES ON

SEXUALITY AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

4.1. Experience of young people

Survey data

Family:

The information obtained from this survey confirms that in most of the Armenian families (82%) parents or guardians rarely or never talk openly with their children about sexuality, sexual and reproductive health (Table 4.1). In total, 336 (37%) young respondents have ever talked to their mothers or female guardians about these issues, and 183 (20%) – with fathers or male guardians. However, 55% of respondents have often been confused when talking to their mothers or female guardians, and 57%- when talking to fathers or male guardians).

Table 4.1. Access to information on sexuality and reproductive health through communication with parents

(Survey data, n=900)

Questions, as stated in questionnaire	Proportion of replies
	Yes, often		Yes, rarely		No, never		Total
	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%
Have you ever talked to your parents or guardians about issues, related to sexuality, sexual and reproductive health?	161	18	299	33	440	49	900	100
Have you been confused, when talking to your mother or female guardian about these issues?	186	55	100	30	50	15	336	100
Have you been confused, when talking to your father or male guardian about these issues?	105	57	46	25	32	18	183	100

General school:

It was also confirmed that there is a lack of communication on related issues between young people and teachers of general schools (Table 4.2). Thus, the great majority (71%) of respondents have never talked to their teachers about sexuality, sexual and reproductive health. Significant proportion (47%) of those who ever talked to their teachers reported that they have often been confused.

Table 4.2. Access to information on sexuality and reproductive health through communication with teachers

(Survey data, n=900)

Questions, as stated in questionnaire	Proportion of replies
	Yes, frequently		Yes, but rarely		No, never		Total
	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%
Have you ever talked to any of your teachers about issues, related to sexuality, sexual and reproductive health?	80	9	181	20	639	71	900	100
Have you been confused, when talked to your teacher/s about these issues?	123	47	66	25	72	28	261	100

Health facilities:

Young people also have had very limited access to sexual and reproductive health care services (Table 4.3). Only 182 (20%) respondents have ever received medical counseling on sexual and reproductive health and most of them (61%) often felt embarrassment during provision of these services.

Table 4.3. Access to medical services on sexuality and reproductive health

(Survey data, n=900)

Questions, as stated in questionnaire	Proportion of replies
	Yes, frequently		Yes, but rarely		No, never		Total
	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%
Have you ever talked to any of health providers about issues, related to sexuality, sexual and reproductive health?	77	8	105	12	718	80	900	100
Have you been confused, when talked to health provider/s about these issues?	112	61	36	20	34	19	182	100

Case studies data

Family:

Results of the case studies among 150 young people have confirmed the observation from the survey that in Armenian families children do not receive appropriate information on sexuality and reproductive health. During the Soviet period and the years following after Armenia’s independence, provision of sexuality education for young people has been largely ignored. As a result, most of the parents do not have relevant knowledge and communication skills for provision young people with reliable information on sexuality and reproductive health. Besides, there are also cultural constrains, which complicate communication between parents and children.

Thus, 73 out of 150 (49%) participants of the case studies have never talked to their parents or guardians about issues, related to sexuality, sexual and reproductive health (Table 4.4).

Table 4.4. Communication with parents on sexuality, sexual and reproductive health

(Case studies data, n=150)

Questions and replies	Proportion of replies
*Have you ever talked to your parents or guardians about sexuality, sexual and reproductive health?*	Group “A”		Group “B”		Group “C”		Total
	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%
Yes, often	19	38	13	26	8	16	40	26
Yes, rarely	17	34	12	24	8	16	37	25
No, never	14	28	25	50	34	68	73	49
Total	50	100	50	100	50	100	150	100

The comparative assessment between three target groups of respondents clearly demonstrates that provision of out-off-school sexuality education and information sharing through peer-education, improve communication between parents/guardians and their children.

Table 4.4 shows that majority (68%) of respondents from the Group “C”, who had no chance to get accurate information on sexuality and reproductive health, never talked to their parents/guardians about these issues. The corresponding figures for the respondents of the Group “A” and Group “B” were as low, as 16% (more than 4 times less). Most of those respondents, who have been provided in the past with training course on sexuality and reproductive health (Group “A”) never experienced confusion during communication with mothers or female guardians (67%), as well as with fathers or male guardians (81%). In fact, the corresponding figures for the respondents of the Group “C” (Table 4.5) were much lower (19% and 46%, accordingly).

Table 4.5. Difficulties in communication with parents on sexuality, sexual and reproductive health

(Case studies data)

Questions and replies	Target groups
*Have you been confused, when talked to your mother or female guardian about these issues?*	Group “A”		Group “B”		Group “C”		Total
	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%
Yes, often	6	16	8	32	8	50	22	28
Yes, rarely	6	17	11	44	5	31	22	29
No, never	24	67	6	24	3	19	33	43
Total	36	100	25	100	16	100	77	100

*Have you been confused, when talked to your father or male guardian about these issues?*	Group “A”		Group “B”		Group “C”		Total
	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%	abs.	%
Yes, often	2	6	1	4	6	46	9	13
Yes, rarely	4	13	3	12	1	8	8	11
No, never	26	81	21	84	6