Sexual health seeking behaviours of young people in the Gambia

Help and Care Seeking for Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Youth in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…12–21 Youth often felt that they did not have adequate information or resources related to SRH. 15,16,21 They discussed a variety of sources for information including: media (print, radio, TV, internet), 12,14,19,20 health care providers, 13–15,20 peers, 12,14–16,19 schools, 15,16,19 parents, 14,16,19–21 and youth serving organizations. 14,16 Certain sources of information were often preferred over others.…”

“…14,16 Certain sources of information were often preferred over others. Health service providers 13–15,20 and schools 15,16,19 were often noted to be ideal places to get information from, yet youth also noted several barriers to seeking information and care. 7 …”

“…Important factors in decisions about who to seek help or information from are a desire for confidentiality and to avoid stigma. 7,13,15,16 Often friends were perceived to be a source of confidential advice 19,21–23 but some studies noted that youth did not want their friends to know about their SRH problems either. 22,24 …”

“…12,17,19,23–26,28 Youth often described waiting until their symptoms worsened or became difficult to bear. 12,17,19,23,28 …”

Utilising drama to promote gender equity and social justice in The Gambia: outcomes from a peer health and a community policing project

“…Here, a culture of silence exists in relation to family and reproduction-related matters (Bijnsdorp and Montgomery 2003;Walraven et al 2001), especially for young people (Miles et al 2001;Paine et al 2002). The Gambia's President, Yahya Jammeh, "The Despot from Kanilai" (Kandeh 2004, 179), has also ensured that a culture of silence exists with regard to political expression.…”