Socio-cultural perspectives on sexual and reproductive health of pastoral adolescent girls in Moroto District, Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to explain the context of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) of pastoral adolescent girls in Moroto district. SRH is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being in relation to all aspects of sexuality and reproduction and not merely the absence of disease or dysfunction. However, while SRH is universal, the context within which it occurs varies significantly. Pastoral adolescent girls in Moroti district experience poor SRH. To address this challenge, there is a need for sufficient knowledge of the socio-cultural perceptions of sexuality and examine issues of access to adolescent SRH services that influence the SRH of adolescent girls in these communities. The study used an ethnographic design supplemented with a cross sectional survey to explore the SRH of pastoral adolescent girls in Moroto district. This study was conducted between 2017 and 2019. The study was mixed methods where qualitative and quantitative methods were used to obtain data. The study used Atlas.ti and Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) computer soft wares to analyse the obtained qualitative and quantitative data. Findings show that the SRH of adolescent girls is influenced by a number of factors, including socio-cultural perceptions of sexuality such as norms, values, beliefs, practices, and expectations. Roles and responsibilities, negative experiences in the use of services, reliance on traditional ways of safe pregnancy and child birth, and distance to the health care facilities also contribute to SRH of pastoral adolescent girls leading to low uptake of SRH services. In light of this, there is a need to address the socio-cultural issues and access factors that influence SRH at each level of the Ecological Model of Health Behaviour (EMHB) starting with the individual adolescent girl to policy level to encourage an attitude and behavioural change. There is a need to formulate SRH policies and strategies with clear goals and incentives to target the SRH of pastoralists such as reforms that address the livelihood challenges of pastoralism that make it hard to access SRH services.