Socio-demography and sexual experiences of University of Venda students: Implications for health

The purpose of this study was to examine socio-demography and sexual experiences among university of Venda students; and to explore gender differences concerning their sexual experiences. This cross sectional study involved 408 (206 females and 202 males) students residing within the university campus. Simple and systematic sampling methods were used to select participants. A 4-likert scaled self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Three hundred and thirty five (82.11%) participants were sexually active, with males (90.10%) being more sexually active compared to the females (74.27%). The age at sexual debut ranged from 11-29 years with a mean age of 17.49 years (16.70 for male and 18.44 for female), males were more likely to start having sex earlier before their female counterparts (Chi-square = 58.43, p = 0.00). Within two months, 76.55% of the sexually exposed males have had sex at least once compared to 71.25% females. Males reported having used condom at last sex (Fisher’s Exact Test= 22.37, p = 0.00). Condom use at last sex was 73.77% for males and 64.05% for females, while 86.36% (209 respondents) used condom consistently at the last sexual act. Although there was no significant difference in the rate of previous pregnancies recorded for males and females (Chi-square value = 0.210, p = 0.647), 23.30% of females reported history of pregnancy while males who reported getting their girlfriends pregnant were 25.25%. This study found a high level of sexual activity among the university of Venda students, especially the males; although most of them were under the protection of condoms, while some students were not consistent with its use. Males engaged more in sexual activities compared to females, and males reported more condom use. Programmes promoting safer sex would help in reducing sexual experiences among the university of Venda students.Keywords: Sexual experiences, gender, condom use, university students