The association between violence and early sexual debut among youth in South Africa

Palesa Mataboge, University of the Witwatersrand
Nicole De Wet, University of the Witwatersrand

Violence and early sexual debut are prevalent among young people.Furthermore, early sexual debut is an indicator of risky sexual behaviours as it exacerbates the individuals exposure to HIV. Reported consequences of violence among the youth are mental health problems, mortality and negative education outcome among young people in South Africa. The current study aims to examine the association between violence and early sexual debut among youth in South Africa.A weighted study population of 21 959 285 males and females in the age group16-24 years, will be obtained from NCS2012.For descriptive analysis frequency tables and graphs will be used, bivariate and multivariate analysis the study will employ a chisquare analysis and multinomial probit model, respectively. According to the results of the current study early sexual debut is high with 62%males and 37%females reporting early sexual debut. The results of the current study show an association between violence and early sexual debut