Gender, Sexual, And Sexual Behaviors Among Latino Youths

The Cuban heritage are known to have high-risk behavior of having unprotected sex. Most of these sex acts occurs among teenagers. Cuban teenagers commits sexual acts because of family conflict. The

According to this perception of “Latino culture,” it can be assumed that teen pregnancy was acceptable and was something that all Latina girls aimed for. Minerva, one of the girls interviewed, described this when she stated, “... they talk down to us, like, ‘Okay, we know that in the Hispanic culture it's okay for girls to get pregnant young and become mothers, but not in American culture, okay?’” (Garcia, 2012: 63). This connection to “Latino culture” also emphasized the gender inequality between men and women. Embedded into the courses was a justification of machismo, a “..strong and exaggerated sense of masculinity specific to Latinos”(Garcia, 2012: 63). Rather than explain the prevention of pregnancy as a group effort, Miriam reported that her sex education teacher, “...started talking about Latino culture and saying that because of machismo, guys were always gonna try to control us and tell us how many babies to have, and that they were too macho to wear condoms” (Garcia, 2012: 63). The idea portrayed when blaming “Latino culture” is that the sexuality of young Latina women is a problem that needs to be fixed but the sexuality of Latino men is acceptable. The efforts of the teachers, as reported by the girls, focused on changing how women pursued their sexuality. However, this perception of sexuality in Latina girls is false, and was grounded on the negative stereotypes

Although the data proves what has caused the rate increase, there are other factors that can affect the outcome of the data. The data in Fig. 1 and Fig 2 shows the Pregnancy Risk among Hispanic women will increase and make up the largest portion of this age group. While most sex education programs were not geared toward the Hispanic community in the 1990’s, it has seen in improvement in the classroom settings. The postponement of parenthood until in the wake of moving on from secondary school improves the probability of getting a well-paying employment and reducing the rate of poverty among the future Hispanic community. It is vital that we attempt to impart these truths to the general population around us; furthermore, bolster persons that may need assistance. For all ethnic groups, in particular Hispanics, there are factors that contribute to this such as peer pressure, images of sex in the media and magazines, and the embarrassment that goes along with getting contraception which could contribute to the high teen pregnancy. While I have no experienced being a teenage father, I have witnessed several tragedies in my career as a Peace Officer. I was dispatched to a residence in reference to a verbal dispute between a mother and her

“Machismo is the traditional masculine value which emphasizes the strength and control over women, including in regard to sexual decision making”. That is why some Latina/Hispanic teenage girls do not feel in control of their contraception decisions. Studies have shown that Latino families are less likely to engage in discussion about sex and contraceptive than non-Hispanic whites. Thus, adolescents often feel uncomfortable or afraid to discuss their sexual habits with their parents for the fear of their disapproval. (Issues in Latina Health, 2007)

Mexican American women for over 20 years have had the highest rate of teen pregnancy compared to Anglo women. Teenage birth rates have decreased as a whole, but even with teenage births decreasing Mexican American women are still at the top, having the highest teen birth rates with 46.3 births for every 1,000 teens that are females. There are several reasons for this startling fact; this paper is going to illustrate some of the misconceptions when dealing with Latina sexuality and reproduction and also the negative results that came from it. To illustrate this alarming issue, some misconceptions about Mexican American sexuality and reproduction will be shared. Such as, most Mexican American teenage or adolescent mothers may lack knowledge.

of Latin American immigrants in Madrid, briefly approaching three different questions: do they believe that there are differences about sexual and reproductive health issues between what they lived in their countries and Spain?; are they having different behaviors in Spain than in their origin countries and, if so, which ones?; and finally, what do they perceived about sexual health services and access in Spain?

In 2012, President Obama funded 105 million dollars for Prevention Programs. This program was designed for teens to get better understanding of sexual education, and to help prevent an adolescent from becoming a mother (Siecus, 2012). Prevention programs can help these young girls learn how difficult it is to be a teen parent but also the risks they face when becoming a mother. These adolescents can be at an even higher risk for getting an STI, STD, and HIV/AIDS. They can also pass these sexually transmitted diseases to their babies. Because most Mexican American girls don’t have their parents or doctors to talk to about these horrifying risks prevention programs can help reduce the risks. They will be able to learn about their bodies and how to protect them with condoms or birth control. Mexican American girls may also be embarrassed to talk to their boyfriends about protection, so this is another way that the prevention programs can help, by showing them how to communicate with their partners about the safety’s and precautions. Other preventions don’t necessarily have to be from programs, they can be from anyone or anything. If these adolescents’ parents were more involved and open with their children they can prevent them from going down a very long and hard path. They would be able to explain to them the difficulties and risks they could be facing. Prevention can also be taught within a

In the Hispanic/Latino culture health care is most commonly sought after when symptoms appear, and in may cases only when those symptoms cause the individual’s incapacitation. Working through discomfort is considered the norm, dwelling on discomfort or mild pain is seen as weakness and seeking medical attention when not ill, such as preventive care, is almost unheard of, unless it is required by one’s employer. Culturally engaging in premarital sex is frowned upon for girls, though not so much for males, abstinence may be the only birth control ever discussed at home, for fear of implying consent. This significantly increments the danger of teen age pregnancy, abortion is rejected, mostly for moral and religious reasons, thus the high rate of teen age birth.

Culturally, engaging in premarital sex is frowned upon for girls, though not so much for males, abstinence may be the only birth control ever discussed at home, for fear of implying consent. This significantly increases the danger of teenage pregnancy, abortion is rejected, mostly for moral and religious reasons, thus the high rate of teenage birth. Vaccinations since not curative, are almost never considered and even if desired, it would require funds to pay for the service or access to a public health clinic. Severe pain, injury, or an impending delivery, will be the triggers for seeking health care. This is why so many Hispanic

Since the 1920’s, teen pregnancy among the Latino community has been one of the biggest social problems. Factors like poor or no sex education, negative media portrayal, poor or lower than average educational levels, social inequality and family pressure, such as encouraging womanhood in teen years, contribute to the high percentage of teen pregnancy among Latinas. However, teen pregnancy among Latinas has been decreasing in recent years. Recent programs such as public service announcement and sex education continue to help educate young Latinas and lower the risk of teen pregnancy. Nevertheless, Latinas still represent the group of people with the highest teen pregnancy. One in six Latinas between the ages of 14-20 will have a child at some point, and 30% of all Latino teenage parents have children out of wedlock.

The Hispanic community will continue to be affected by HIV/AIDS at higher rates due to their behaviors, social economic standing, and cultural beliefs. Preventions need to include these cultural beliefs and use those strong cultural beliefs to increase knowledge and safe sexual practices. Health care providers

SLIDE 1: So why are we targeting low-income black and Hispanic adolescent females you may ask? They are at higher risk, than other ethnicities, for acquiring an STD and/or experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. Increased utilization of dual contraception is of great importance in these communities. Adolescent females in general are less likely to use dual forms of protection from STD’s and unplanned pregnancy. Young women, due to their anatomy tend to be more susceptible to STD’s than are young men. Black and Hispanic females are 4.9x and 2.1x, respectively, more likely to contract chlamydia (which is a common STD) than their white counterparts. When it comes to pregnancy 3 in 10 adolescent females will become pregnant before the age of 20, amongst black and Hispanic young women this figure jumps to 5 in 10. Black and Hispanics teens are more likely to be living in poverty than are other ethnicities and data has shown that teen pregnancy increases proportionally as socioeconomic status declines as does rate of STD contraction.

Despite teenage pregnancy rates dropping more than fifty percent in recent years, it is within the Hispanic community that teen pregnancy continues to remain a serious public and social issue. When compared to other ethnic sectors in the United States, Hispanic females continue to hold a higher birth rate than others, being twice more than that of non-Hispanics. In general, there are the many apparent obstacles and consequences when dealing with this situation. Young adult parents must overcome educational, financial, and emotional problems months before their child is born.

Census back in 2000 stated that about thirty-four percent of Latinos did not have any health insurance. There was an analysis of Latino students in seventh, ninth, and eleventh grades, twenty percent did not know where to go for medical help. The younger adolescents were not informed about healthcare needs, which may show their lack to regular check ups and or their lack of knowledge to seek for help. In 1988 through 2000, Latina teens had increasing numbers of STDs than did non-Hispanic adolescence women. About fifty-nine percent of Latina adolescence that do not use any kind of protection at first sexual intercourse, compared to close to eighty-one percent of non-Hispanic, about seventy-seven percent Asian Americans, Native Americans was also about seventy-seven percent and African Americans was at about sixty-eight percent. Latina adolescences receive little knowledge about protection and family planning. The school interventions and healthcare services only reach a portion of Latina adolescences, because of the high numbers of school dropout level in this population. The issues preventing Latina adolescences' accessing to healthcare are verbal barriers and not enough knowledge about healthcare

Where in the first world would one expect the teen pregnancy rate to be the highest? Surprisingly, it is the United States that has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any first world country, more than double the rate of twenty other first world countries and almost ten times greater than that of Switzerland. While some of the disparity can be attributed to factors such as income inequality, the presence of abstinence only education has a major impact on birth and STD rates in the United States in comparison to other countries with more comprehensive programs. It is clear that this difference in approaches has a significant effect, and the United States needs to act to ensure the health of its citizens. Urgent actions are necessary