Knowledge of AIDS and Sexual Practices of Young Female Hawkers in Truck and Bus Stations in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This study explored the AIDS knowledge and sexual practices of 228 young female hawkers in four bus and truck stations in Ibadan, Nigeria. Fifty-one percent did not know that a girl could become pregnant during her first sexual encounter; 71.7 percent and 65.6 percent knew of the sexual and perinatal routes of transmission of HIV infection, respectively. However, a large proportion believed that the virus could spread through sharing eating utensils (60.4 percent) and toilets (59 percent) with infected persons. Forty-two percent had ever had sex; only 16.1 percent used a condom during the first episode of sex, 83.9 percent did not. Sixty-two percent of sexually experienced hawkers were sexually active in the three months preceding the survey. The frequency at which they had sexual intercourse during the period ranged from one to six times. Thirty-two percent of these sexual encounters were protected from pregnancy, 68 percent were not. Half (50 percent) of those who took a precaution to prevent pregnancy reported that their partners used a condom, few received injectable contraceptives (5 percent) others took analgesics, purgatives, and self-made concoctions (45 percent). Four percent of sexually active subjects were raped in the course of trading in the stations. We propose appropriate recommendations to address risky sexual practices.