Challenges of youth contraception: intersections between gender, sexuality and health

This paper shows, from a socioanthropological perspective, the challenges young people face in managing their sexual and affective lives, when it comes to preventing unexpected pregnancy. It aims to discuss some of the difficulties young people have when dealing with contraception along their sexual and affective lives and also to identify circumstances in which they tend not to use contraceptive methods (CM). A qualitative research is presented, in which empirical data consists of 73 in-depth interviews with young people of both sex, ages 18 to 24, living in Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, and inserted in two social segments (popular and intermediate), who went through at least one experience of teenage pregnancy. A thematic analysis of data was adopted in order to assemble similar and repeated elements in the testimonies of the young people interviewed as well as to assemble the contrasts of gender and social segments. Results that reveal the difficulties of young people in adopting a continued use of CM were listed according to: relationship context; relationship with the family regarding sexuality; side effects of hormonal anticonceptive methods; negligence with contraception; problems with health services; "failure" of CM; a strong sense of fatherhood found in the popular segments; use of condoms with "unknown" female partners; withdrawal with no knowledge of the partner menstrual cycle.