Risky Sexual Behavior, Substance Abuse and Sexually Transmitted Infections among Street Adolescents in India

Atanu Ghosh, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Laishram Ladusingh, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

A study of 408 street adolescents aged 13-19 years, randomly selected through Time Location Cluster Sampling technique in Kolkata (India), reveals that 47% ever had penetrative sex. Among adolescents who ever had sex, two-fifth of the boys reported to be a victim of homosexual intercourse whereas, 85% of girls reported to be raped. The mean age of heterosexual intercourse for boys and girls were 15 and 13.2 years respectively. Half of the boys and two-fifth of the girls used condoms at last sexual intercourse. Nearly half of the respondent reported having a symptom of RTI/STI. Multivariate analysis shows that condom use is positively associated with educational attainment and accuracy of knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Awareness campaign by NGOs found to be the most effective tool of communication than other approaches of communication. NGOs intervention should be scaled up for enabling adolescents to have accurate knowledge of HIV/AIDS and healthier behavior.