Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey ... - Measure DHS

The data show that while women and men both initiate sexual activity early, it is particularlythe case for women. Fourteen percent of women age 20-49 first had sex before they were 15 andalmost six in ten (59 percent) had first sex before the age of 18. Looking at the median age at first sexby age group, there appears to be a tendency for younger women to delay sex compared with womenage 35-49. The median age at first sex for women is 17.3 years.Men initiate sexual activity somewhat later than women. Among men age 20-49, only 8percent had sex before they were 15, while 41 percent had sex before age 18 and 68 percent had sexby age 20. The median age at first sex for men is 18.5 years.Comparison of these results with data from the 2003-04 THIS indicates that there has beenlittle change in age at sexual debut. However, the median age at first sex for women 20-24 hasdeclined slightly from 17.7 to 17.5 years in 2007-08, while for men it has remained the same at 18.5years.7.3 RECENT SEXUAL ACTIVITYIn the absence of contraception, the chances of becoming pregnant are related to the frequencyof sexual intercourse. Thus, information on sexual activity can be used to refine measures ofexposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as pregnancy. Women and meninterviewed in the THMIS were asked when they last had sex. Tables 7.2.1 and 7.2.2 show thedistribution of women and men, respectively, according to the timing of last sexual activity, bybackground characteristics.The data show that over half of women and men age 15-49 were sexually active in the fourweeks preceding the survey (56 percent of women and 55 percent of men), while about three-quartershad had sex in the 12 months before the survey. Thirteen percent of women and 20 percent of menage 15-49 had never had sexual intercourse at the time of the survey.Among women, the level of recent sexual activity (within the four weeks preceding thesurvey) reaches a broad peak at ages 25-44. In the youngest age groups, recent sexual activity amongmen is lower than that among women; however, from ages 25-29, the proportion of men who havehad sex in the past month exceeds that for women. As expected, recent sexual activity is far morecommon among currently married women and men than among those who never married or who aredivorced, separated, or widowed (Figure 7.1). For example, 78 percent of currently married womenand 86 percent of currently married men reported having had sex in the four weeks before the survey,compared with only 13 percent of never-married women and 17 percent of never-married men. Recentsexual activity does not decline with the duration of marriage; in fact, among married men, theproportion who had sex in the four weeks before the survey is highest among those married for 25years or more (93 percent).Both women and men in rural areas are more likely to have had sex in the four weeks beforethe survey than their urban counterparts. The proportion of women who reported recent sexual activityranges from 45 percent in Kilimanjaro and Iringa regions to 67 percent in Shinyanga region. Therange is greater among men, from 39 percent in Kilimanjaro region to 69 percent in Lindi region.Women and men with more education are less likely than those with less education to have had sex inthe past four weeks. Recent sexual activity by household wealth status generally decreases withincreasing wealth quintile, especially for men.74 | HIV/AIDS-Related Behaviour