What sexuality education teaches and what young girls want to learn: voices from an Ethiopian primary school

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article reports on an ethnographic study to understand the practices of sexuality education (SE) in relation to what young girls want to learn in a primary school Ethiopia. This is done by means of school observations, FGD with female students and interviews with SE teachers. The study shows the observed SE focuses mainly on issues of HIV/AIDS and abstinence, which left the interviewed girl’s questions unanswered. The latter were concerned with learning about sexual practices and consequences, and bodily functions. The findings also show girls demand more inward-looking SE that addresses and could solve within-school issues. The findings suggest that SE should bring educational needs of students to the fore, instead of dramatising. Our results also shed new light on the critical approaches – despite their focus on abstinence – also advocate gender-equality and discuss body-changes in a radical manner, appearing to challenge unquestioned traditions and the general gender-order.