title: The start of the sexual transition in Mali: risks and opportunities.
abstract: Analysis of data from a questionnaire survey of 2,000 young Malians undertaken by the authors in 2002 demonstrates that, even in underprivileged urban and rural populations, changes in sexual behavior are emerging. Among women, first sex and motherhood are taking place slightly later, and a minority is now dissociating sexuality and procreation. Our data confirm the considerable impact of female education on this transition. Girls'sexual activity before procreation is also influenced by lower religiosity. Among men, in contrast, in a traditional context of late sexual debut and fatherhood, the trend is toward earlier sexual activity and procreation. Fatherhood is delayed, however, among better-educated, wealthier, and less religious urban men, who therefore experience a longer period of sexual activity before they begin to build their own families. The study concludes with an analysis of the possible association of the sexual transition with young people's increased vulnerability resulting from their adoption of risky sexual behaviors and from unfavorable conditions surrounding the arrival of their first child.
authors.affiliation: University of Geneva, Laboratoire de démographie et d'etudes familiales, Uni Mail-40 boulevard du Pont-d'Arve, CH-1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland. claudine.sauvain@ses.unige.ch
authors.forename: Claudine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sauvain-Dugerdil
authors.forename: Bassoutoura
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gakou
authors.forename: Fatou
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berthé
authors.forename: Abdoul Wahab
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Dieng
authors.forename: Gilbert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ritschard
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lerch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008302:Mali; D008423:Maternal Age; D010331:Paternal Age; D012067:Religion; D034121:Reproductive Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors