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Sexual activity and contraceptive use

According to the 1994/95 National Population Health Survey (NPHS), a substantial proportion of teenagers are sexually active.¹¹ An estimated 43% of women aged 15 to 19 had had at least one sex partner in the previous year, and about 13% reported having at least two partners during that time. Considering only those who were sexually active, 32% of these 15- to 19-year-old women had more than one partner.

Among sexually active 15- to 19-year-old women (excluding the small number who were married, in a common-law relationship, divorced or widowed, or who had had a single sex partner), 51% reported having sex without a condom in the past year.

The 1996/97 NPHS found that slightly over half of sexually active teenagers used oral contraceptives (unpublished tabulations). Among single (never married) 15- to 19-year-old women who had been sexually active in the previous year, 55% reported using the pill in the previous month.