05/12/2022

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX

Sexual behaviors, knowledge of sex,
and sources of sexual information
among today’s youth
Workshop on the Review and Enhancement of
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Learning Resources
5-9 December 2022 | Whitewoods Hotel, Silang, Cavite

MARIA MIDEA M. KABAMALAN, Ph.D. &

SANNY BOY D. AFABLE, M.A.
Population Institute
College of Social Science and Philosophy
University of the Philippines

“ANG SABI NG TROPA”

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ABOUT THE YAFS

The YAFS series

YAFS is the aims to provide YAFS5 aims to aid
Its rich findings have
largest series of updated information the Adolescent
been used as bases
cross-sectional on a broad Health and
in the formulation of
surveys in the framework of Development
programs and
Philippines on the adolescent sexuality Program Strategic
policies for the
15 to 24 age group and reproductive Plan of the
health and welfare of
(1982, 1994, 2002, health issues, their Department of
the youth
2013) antecedents, and Health (DOH)
manifestations

80 17
regions
provinces

653 10,949
cities &
Filipino youth
municipalities

955
barangays
Coverage of
the YAFS5
14,296
households

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The COVID-19 In the Philippines, from 3 January 2020 to 4:24 pm CET, 1 December 2022,
there have been 4,036,277 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 64,641 deaths,
Situation reported to WHO. As of 23 November 2022, a total of 168,893,220 vaccine
doses have been administered.

Survey data collection:

Aug 2021- Jan 2022

4,036,277

2020 2021 2022

Source: https://covid19.who.int/region/wpro/country/ph; 26 November 2022

YAFS5 Main
Questionnaire
Topics

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Focus of this presentation

• Sexual behavior
• Knowledge of sex
• Ideals and preferences
• Sources of sexual information

• Role of educators in the sexual and reproductive health of the

youth

Who are today’s Filipino youth?

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Age-sex structure of the Philippine population, 2020

80 and over
Male Female
75-79
Population age 15-24 in 2021* 70-74

20.2 million
* From Official Population projections based on the
65-69
60-64
55-59
2015 POPCEN
50-54
45-49
40-44

9.8 million 35-39

30-34
female youth 25-29

19%
20-24
15-19
10-14 of the population or
10.3 million 5-9
0-4
about 20 million are
aged 15-24
male youth 60 40 20 0 20 40 60

Source: Official population projections based on the 2015 POPCEN

Age, Sex, and Place of Residence

Urban,
15-19,
Male, 33
59 Female,
20-24, 51 49
Rural,
41 67

Percent distribution of youth Percent distribution of youth Percent distribution of youth

by age group by sex by place of residence

10

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Educational attainment
Percent distribution of youth by highest educational attainment
and by sex

42
38

28 29
22
Male
18
Female
9
5 6
3

No education / Grades 7-10 Grades 11-12 Some college or College or higher

elementary higher

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

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Youth who were raised by both parents

86 85 85 69% of the youth have
83
84 parents still living together
83 83
82 80 68
66
65
* Note: In the 1994 and 2002
YAFS, respondents were asked
Male about the persons who mostly
Female raised them from birth up to age
15. In 2013 and 2021, the
Both sexes question was revised to the
persons who mostly raised from
birth to now (for respondents
aged 18 or under) or until age 18
(for respondents over 18).

1994 2002 2013 2021

Percent of youth who were raised by both parents, by sex

12

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Gender and sexual identity

Identities Male Female
Gender Identity
Man 97.60 0.03
Woman 0.05 98.10
Transgender, non-binary 2.40 1.90
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual 93.4 89.5
Lesbian/Gay 2.4 2.1
Bisexual 4.1 8.3
Pansexual, asexual 0.03 0.08
undecided

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Sexual behaviors

14

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Sexual experience

Among youth with

sexual experience,
87% of male youth and
60% of female youth’s
sexual initiation
happened prior to

32%
of male youth have
27%
of female youth have
marriage.

sexual experience sexual experience

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

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Premarital sex
36

31
32

28
26 23 29

22 Both sexes
17 16
16

10

1994 2002 2013 2021

Percentage of youth aged 15-24 with premarital sex experience

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

16

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Sexual initiation before age 18

25
23
20
19
17
14
13
12
Median age at first sex
Male youth: 18 years
Female youth: 18 years

1994 2002 2013 2021

Percentage of youth aged 18-24 who had sex before age 18

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

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Wantedness of premarital sexual initiation

Did not plan
but happened Did not plan
anyway but happened
28 anyway
32
45
54
Wanted to Wanted to
happen at happen at
that time 17 that time
Did not want 18
1 to happen 6
but went Did not want
along with to happen
Happened Happened but went
against will against will along with

Percent distribution of the wantedness of first premarital sex of the youth

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

18

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Use of protection during sexual initiation

68 57

32 26

24 24 25
16
9 14 32
13 15 36 8
7 6
1
15
11 10 7 9 8

1994 2002 2013 2021 1994 2002 2013 2021

Used other methods Used condom Used other methods Used condom

Percentage of youth aged 15-24 who used any form of protection during 1st premarital sex

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

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Exposure to pornographic or
sexually explicit content in media
Percentage of youth aged 15-24 who have been exposed
to pornographic or sexually explicit content

20%
57
had intentional exposure in
Male youth
the last three months prior
Female youth to the survey
43

32

50%
had incidental exposure in
the last three months prior
8 to the survey

Intentional Incidental
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

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Use of ICTs for sex-related activities

Received sex photos/videos through
31
phone/internet

Sent sex photos/videos through

9
phone/internet

Taken photo of private body parts 3

Youth or partner recorded sexual intercourse

3
(among those who ever had sex)

Engaged in phone sex 3

Percentage of youth aged 15-24 who have engaged in ICT-mediated sexual activities

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

21

Knowledge of sex

22

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Menstrual cycle and likelihood of pregnancy

By sex

Male 28 33 39

From one menstrual period Female 43 26 31

to the next, is there a time
when a woman is more Yes No Don't know
likely to become pregnant if
By age group
she has sexual relations?
15-19 32 30 38

20-24 40 29 31

Yes No Don't know

23

Menstrual cycle and likelihood of pregnancy

Just before her period During her period
Right after her period Halfway between two periods
Is this time just before
her period begins,
during her period, 26 19
30 23
right after her period
has ended, or halfway 44
49
between two periods? 47
51
14
8 7
5
19 23 21
14

2013 2021 2013 2021

Male Female

24

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Knowledge of pregnancy risks

By sex By age group
Female Male 20-24 15-19

1 A girl can get pregnant before she 30 34

experiences her first menstruation. 27 25

2 A woman can get pregnant from one 79 78

unprotected sexual intercourse. 68 70

3 A woman can get pregnant when she 52 49

engages in sexual intercourse anytime
during her menstrual cycle. 38 42

4 A woman cannot get pregnant if her

30 30
partner did not ejaculate during sexual
intercourse. 28 29

Percent of youth with correct knowledge of pregnancy risks, by sex and age group

25

Awareness of STIs and HIV/AIDS

Percent of youth who have heard of an illness called AIDS: 1994-2021

95 95
85
95 95 78
82
Only one in three knows 74
about sexually transmitted
Male
infections (STIs).
Female

1994 2002 2013 2021

26

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Comprehensive knowledge
of HIV and/or AIDS
Believes that a person can get HIV by sharing
food with someone who is infected 52

Does not believe that a healthy-looking person

can have HIV 40

Does not believe that a person can reduce the

risk of getting infected with HIV by using a 35
Only 19% of the youth
condom everytime they have sex
Does not believe that the risk of HIV
have comprehensive
transmission can be reduced by having sex
with only one uninfected partner who has no…
27 correct knowledge of
Believes that a person can get HIV from HIV and/or AIDS
mosquito bites 24

Percent of youth with misconceptions of HIV and/or AIDS

prevention and transmission, Philippines 2021

27

Confidence in sexual knowledge

Background characteristics Percent who think they have
enough knowledge about sex
Age group
15-19 27.9
20-24 45.1
Sex
Male 38.3
Female 31.9

28

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Ideals and preferences

29

Ideal age at first sexual intercourse

Mean ideal age at first sexual intercourse
Ideal age for a man Ideal age for a woman
24.1 24.1
The average ideal age at
23.2 23.2
first sexual intercourse
22.7 22.6
for a man and a woman
is 23 years old. 21.9
21.7

15-19 20-24 Male Female

Age Group Sex

30

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Ideal age at marriage

Ideal age at marriage for men
Ideal age at marriage for women

25.0 24.9 24.6 25.2

23.6 24.6
23.1 23.1

1994 2002 2013 2021

Mean ideal age at marriage for men and women

31

Ideal age to have a child for the first time

Mean ideal age to have a child for the first time
Ideal age for a man Ideal age for a woman
26.2
Ideal age to have a 25.6 25.7
25.3
child for the first time 25.1
24.7 24.7
is 26 for men and 25
24.2
years for women.

15-19 20-24 Male Female

Age Group Sex

32

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Fertility preferences
Mean preferred number of children by sex

Male youth want

3.3 slightly more
3.1
2.8 children compared
2.6 to female youth
2.8 Male youth
2.6
2.3
Female youth
2.2

A declining
trend for
both sexes
1994 2002 2013 2021

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

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Child spacing
The average ideal birth space for each
child is 3 years.

Female youth reported longer

ideal birth space than male youth
(3.4 vs. 2.7)

34

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Sources of sexual information

35

Material sources of information about sex

None 39 None 44

Social media 31 Social media 26

Educational materials 18 Educational materials 23

Movies and video 13 Other sources 10

Other sources 7 TV and radio 6

TV and radio 6 Movies and video 5

Printed media 4 Printed media 5

Percentage of youth aged 15-24's material sources of information about sex

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

36

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Persons male youth will most likely

consult for questions about sex

2002 65

2013 50
2021 40
33
24
13 15
12 12 12 11 11
6 7 5

No one Father Mother Health professionals Friends

Percentage of male youth’s top five persons to consult for questions about sex

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

37

Persons female youth will most likely

consult for questions about sex

2002
2013
49
43 2021
39
31
23 26
20 22
11 12 10 10
9 8 9

None Mother Siblings Health professionals Friends

Percentage of female youth’s top five persons to consult for questions about sex

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

38

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Discussion of sex at home

19

19 17

13
15
14
12 13 12
10

10
12 12
10

1994 2002 2013 2021

Percentage of youth aged 15-24 who ever discussed sex at home

UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES POPULATION INSTITUTE 2021 YOUNG ADULT FERTILITY & SEXUALITY STUDY

39

Locating educators’ role in youth’s

sexual and reproductive health

40

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• In the absence of adequate sources of

correct information about sex, the youth tend
to consult—if at all—social media (which
may provide incorrect information) and their
peers (who likewise may have unreliable
sexual knowledge).

• Teachers emerged as among the main role

models of the youth (13%), next only to
entertainers/ celebrities (22%). Very few,
however, would consult them for their
problems or questions about sex.

41

• Given the ubiquity of the Internet

and social media especially
among the youth, educators
should consider using these tools
to reach out to young people
regarding their sex-related
concerns.

42

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• We need more open age-appropriate and gender-

sensitive discussions about sex in our classrooms.

Most desired sexual information from material sources

Female Male

65
General information about sex
76

24
Contraception
21

7
Sexual positions/techniques
18

18
STIs/HIV and/or AIDS
13

31
Pregnancy-related
13

43

44

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 05/12/2022

LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX

Sexual behaviors, knowledge of sex,
and sources of sexual information
among today’s youth
Workshop on the Review and Enhancement of
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Learning Resources
5-9 December 2022 | Whitewoods Hotel, Silang, Cavite

MARIA MIDEA M. KABAMALAN, Ph.D. &

SANNY BOY D. AFABLE, M.A.
Population Institute
College of Social Science and Philosophy
University of the Philippines

45

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