Life-changing information for youths
Did you know that one in every three teenage girls in the north and one in every ten girls in the south of Nigeria will become pregnant while they are still in school, and will have virtually no chance at climbing out of poverty?
We are scaling a one hour ‘Sugar Daddy’ Awareness Classes in schools across Nigeria to educate youths about the issues of teenage pregnancies, HIV infections and school dropout; distroying wide spread ignorance and busting the myth that ‘sugar dadies’ are good.
The Problem: Nigeria has the highest adolescent fertility rate in Africa with the alarming rates of one in every three teenage girls in the north and one in every ten girls in the south getting pregnant – the National Population Commission (NPC). As if this is not shocking enough, the NPC has also reported that the incidence of teenage pregnancy increased to 60 million, from 44.5 million in 2006, in 2015 with pregnancy being the highest killer of teenage girls worldwide due to its many complications.
The implications of teenage pregnancies, when a girl survives, are enormous in our society with the most obvious being school dropout. Once a teenage girl becomes pregnant in Nigeria her chances of continuing with school automatically almost becomes zero. Nigeria currently has the highest school dropout rate in the world with it accounting for almost a fifth of the world’s out-of-school children –UNESCO.
Another worrying issue is that Nigeria has the 2nd highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, at 3.1%. An estimated 1.7 million women in Nigeria live with HIV; with prevalence very high among young women aged 15-24 –UNAIDS 2012 ‘Global Report.
These two problems are connected as both are a proxy for unprotected sex. Previous studies have shown that the age difference between girls and their sexual partners is a high HIV risk factor, and girls who have sexual active with older men are more likely to get pregnant.
In developing countries, older men are known to prey on young girls for sex in exchange for cheap material favours. This is the sugar daddy syndrome and Nigeria is hugely plagued by this. Parents have to know that it is no longer enough to just bring up their children well or to condemn girls who fall victim to such practices. We must go beyond talking and punishing to empowering our young daughters with education and information that are evidence and fact based in order to equip them with the moral and social values needed to avoid becoming a victim of sexual predators.
The Solution: Sugar Daddy Awareness Clasess
Our campaign focuses on a root cause of these problems (high rates HIV infection, teenage pregnancy and school dropout) and have been shown in a randomized controlled trial to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy and HIV infection by 28 percent in the subsequent year- see our evidence section.
This intervention has been tested and proven to work in similar context hence we have adapted this intervention to Nigeria and are scaling it nationwide with the aim to reach one million Nigerian youths with the ‘Sugar Daddy’ Awareness Classes.
Through our one hour Sugar Daddy Awareness Classes, Teenage Girls, and even boys, are being taught the hidden truth about Sugar daddies, the relative risks of older men as sexual partners, how to know when being preyed on by an older man and what to do about it. Our class does not pass judgement – we equip our youth with evidence based information/facts, destroying wide-spread ignorance and busting the myth that Sugar daddies are good. The problem is that a lot of girls have never been informed about the dangers associated with older sexual partners hence they are ignorant and gullible. This knowledge empowers them to make informed decisions and is a powerful way to change behaviour.
We are providing life changing education for youths that would help change risky behaviours and habits that often destroy futures. Our programme is research, fact, relative risk information driven and proven to produce results.
See why our Sugar Daddy Awareness Class has the highest impact on combating HIV infections, Teen pregnancies and school drop-out. Read more