EFFECT OF GENDER AND AGE ON ATTITUDE OF UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES TOWARDS SEXUAL ACTIVITY
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to study
Premarital sexual activities among youths now appear to be a reality that cannot be ignored. In this study we tend to examine the effect of age, gender, religiosity and family factors on sexual attitude and behaviour of the university of Ibadan students towards premarital sex. Premarital sex simply means engaging in sexual relationship (intercourse)before marriage. The phenomenon of premarital sex was not allowed to breed in the early years (adolescent). But with adolescents living independently in the hostels, beyond parental watchful eyes and with access to products of modern technology, there is an ample opportunity for various sexual experimentation among adolescents (Isiugo-Abanihe & Oyediran 2004 ) up to the late 19th century nearly all the cultures around the world viewed with seriousness, the engagement of unmarried males and females in sexual intercourse. The culprits were sanctioned with their punishment which ranged from the psychological consequence of been tagged a shit to the physical infliction of injuries by stoning or excommunication. there is an increasing awareness and fight to combat the menace of S>T>D, H.I.V, teenage pregnancies and abortions directed at the unmarried youths, mass media campaigns for increased contraceptive use among university students appears to be an acknowledge of their involvement in premarital sex. Technological and social developments appear to have spurned reforms in the sexual attitudes and behavior. (Boggers and Brander 20000)
In Africa traditional setting the focal point of the rites of transition from puberty / adolescence to adult hood was marital responsibility and the innocence of male and female involved is taking for granted as the essence of the ceremonies of initiation. Yoruba culture of the colonial era ascribed a lot of weight to the virginity of the bribe on her wedding night. (Jeje and Olu 2002 revised). The groom’s family and members of the community at large accorded brides who proved to have maintained their virginity respect. such women brought honour to their own families and vice versa for the bride that was found to have violated the norms did not expects to know anything about sex until the wedding night, to the extent that they needed some lessons in the art of mating.
More than before, there are concerns over the prevalence of premarital sexual activities among the
