KIT Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Wageningen Environmental Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Cult Health Sex. 2022 Jun;24(6):767-781. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2021.1881618. Epub 2021 Feb 25.
This study aimed to explore how young people exercise agency in rural Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia in relation to sex, relationships and marriage, to inform local programmes aiming to prevent teenage pregnancy and child marriage. In each country, focus group discussions with young people and parents, in-depth interviews with young people and a variety of other participants, and a household survey with young people (15-24 years) were conducted. We found that (child) marriage was often a response to teenage pregnancy, which was highly prevalent in all study areas. Young people's aspirations to enter adulthood were influenced by their life circumstances. Initiation ceremonies symbolised the transition to adulthood and gave social endorsement to young people to start engaging in (often unprotected) sexual activity. Given the uncertain socio-economic context, resource constraints led families to marry off their daughters; or girls themselves to marry early to relieve the burden on their families, but also to get pregnant as a 'next step' towards adulthood. Transactional sex was common. These intersecting cultural, social and economic contextual factors constrained young women's agency, more as compared to young men. However, young women did manoeuvre within contextual constraints to exercise a degree of agency.
本研究旨在探讨马拉维、莫桑比克和赞比亚农村地区的年轻人如何在性、关系和婚姻方面行使代理权，为旨在预防青少年怀孕和童婚的地方方案提供信息。在每个国家，都对年轻人和家长进行了焦点小组讨论，对年轻人进行了深入访谈和各种其他参与者，以及对年轻人（15-24 岁）进行了家庭调查。我们发现（儿童）婚姻通常是青少年怀孕的一种反应，而青少年怀孕在所有研究地区都非常普遍。年轻人进入成年的愿望受到他们生活环境的影响。启动仪式象征着向成年的过渡，并赋予年轻人社会认可，开始从事（通常是无保护的）性活动。考虑到不确定的社会经济背景，资源限制导致家庭为女儿出嫁；或者女孩自己早点结婚，以减轻家庭的负担，但也怀孕，作为迈向成年的“下一步”。性交易很常见。这些相互交织的文化、社会和经济背景因素限制了年轻女性的代理权，相比之下，年轻男性的代理权受限更多。然而，年轻女性确实在情境限制内进行了一定程度的代理权操作。
