Report: Many Kenyans do not use protection

As they grow older, men and women seem to get more reckless in their sexual behaviour, the Demographic and Health Survey shows.

The furore associated with the report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistic (KNBS), which was heavy on the country's runaway debauchery, continues. But somewhere inside there are details of how Kenyans shun bullet-proof vests while standing in the line of fire.

Many philandering Kenyans do not use protection while sampling what is mainly stolen goods. In this age, almost quarter-way into the 21st century, there are Kenyans who still do not understand, or believe, that unprotected sex could lead to the transmission of HIV. Yet others do not even understand what HIV is.

As such, the condom is a rarer stock in households than would be expected. And while reports from November 2022 indicated that Kenya was suffering a shortage of condoms, with the government able to supply 150 million against an annual demand of 460 million, there is a chance some enjoy the shortage and would appreciate it if condom minting companies closed shop even.

Among women, the percentage who reported using a condom the last time they slept with a person who neither was their spouse nor lived with them decreased with age, from 46 per cent among women in the age bracket of 15-19 to 29 per cent among women aged 30-49.

An almost similar pattern is seen among men. The percentage of men who had more than 2 partners in the last 12 months and used a condom dipped from 63.5 per cent for those aged between 15 and 24 to 27.2 per cent for ages 40-49.

This is a somewhat unexpected trend, owing to the fact that older folk are likely to have been affected by the spread of HIV in the country, which was rife towards the end of the 20th century, and should therefore be cautious when engaging in illicit sex.

Also, this report may critically injure the assumption that wisdom comes with age. To prevent unwanted pregnancy, a considerable percentage of Kenyans have adopted modern methods of family planning.

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Family planning

These, the report notes, include male and female sterilization, injectables, intrauterine devices (IUDs), contraceptive pills, implants, female and male condoms, emergency contraception, the standard days method, and the lactational amenorrhea method.

"Among currently married women, the most commonly used methods are injectables (20 per cent), implants (19 per cent), and contraceptive pills (8 per cent). Among sexually active unmarried women, male condoms are the most commonly used contraceptive method (20 per cent), followed by injectables (16 per cent) and implants (11 per cent)," the report noted.

Yet as men and women went on a rampage, the risks of contracting HIV, alongside other sexually transmitted infections, remained high. Nearly all of the above mentioned methods prevent pregnancies but do not help in combating sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

72.8 per cent of women aged 15-19 cited that they know that people can reduce the risk of getting HIV by using condoms every time they have sexual intercourse. The percentage rises to 86 per cent for those aged between 20 and 24.

The percentages for both age brackets for men are 79.7 per cent, 87.8 per cent, significantly higher than women's.

Women with higher levels of education appreciate the risk that unprotected sex could potentially have on their health, and are therefore more likely to use protection. Only 37.1 per cent of those without an education understand that HIV could be transmitted through unprotected sexual contact, while 73.1 per cent of those who have been through primary school are also aware of this.

For those with a secondary school education, 81 per cent recognize the dangers of raw sex, a figure that rises to 90.6 per cent for women who have studied to a level higher than secondary school.

Dangers of contracting HIV

For men, the same pattern is observed with 58.7 per cent (no education), 75.5 per cent (primary education), 85.4 per cent (secondary education), and 94.3 per cent (more than secondary education) well informed on the dangers of contracting HIV if they do not mask up. The same trend can be observed as wealth quintiles rise, from the lowest class to second, middle, fourth and highest classes of wealth, with men generally showing more awareness and alertness.

Among counties, for women aged 15 to 24, Kisumu leads in the number of women that believe that HIV can be prevented by using a condom, with a whopping 95.8 per cent.

It is followed by Kisii at 92.1 per cent, Trans Nzoia at 91.1 and then Siaya at 90.4 per cent. Two of these counties also feature prominently among those in which men believe in the use of a condom and its ability to prevent the spread of HIV.

The counties whose men best believe in condom use are Kisii at 97.7 per cent, Kisumu at 97 per cent, Kitui at 96.7 per cent and Murang'a at 96 per cent.Less than three women out of ten in Mandera and Garissa counties (15 per cent and 27.7 per cent respectively), and half of men in Tana River and Mandera (57.3 per cent apiece) understand the gravity of stealing without putting on facemasks.

Even more disturbingly, only 4.5 per cent of women from Mandera county and 16.8 per cent of men from the same county know anything about HIV prevention. As protection tactics go, the female condom remains as alien as unidentified foreign objects (UFOs).

Use of the female condom

Only three counties in the country reported use of the female condom: Elgeyo/Marakwet at 0.2 per cent, Bungoma at 0.3 per cent, and Migori at 0.4 per cent. This new KNBS report shows insane levels of debauchery in what is a predominantly Christian nation, where sexual offers, even by married people to others who are not their spouses, are handed out like confetti.

Men aged between 21 and 29 make up the highest number of those who have more than two sexual partners. The divorced, widowed and separated, and therefore very likely to be lonely, followed by married men, are the most likely to have more than two sexual partners.

And while the institution of marriage is every day discussed on social media, with many young Kenyans appalled by the number of disputes, and the cases of infidelity, ruining marriages nowadays, a third of Kenyan men are actively seeing someone they are not supposed to be with.

"Thirty-five percent of men reported having sex in the last 12 months with a person who neither was their wife nor lived with them, and 68 per cent of these men reported using a condom during their last sexual intercourse with such a partner," the report says.