‘Abstinence-Only’

‘Abstinence-Only’
It is not yet possible to draw fi rm conclusions regarding the effectiveness of abstinence-only approaches because of
the diversity of programmes included under this heading, the range of cultures in which they are implemented and
the fact that only a few programmes have been evaluated. Nonetheless, available evidence indicates that some programmes
clearly do not reduce sexual risk and while there is weak evidence that a small number of programmes may
be promising, there is no strong evidence to support the argument that any particular programmes are effective.45
In theory, ‘abstinence only’ programmes should be more effective in more affl uent societies, where people have
more freedom to decide whether and how they have sex. However, researchers reviewed several such studies,
including more than 15,900 participants, and found that in comparison with control groups, there was little evidence
that risky sexual behaviour, inci-dence of STIs, or pregnancy was reduced among young people in abstinence-only
42 Wegbreit, Bertozzi et al., 2006.
43 Kirby, Obasi et al., 2006.
44 Curriculum is defi ned by the authors as: “an organized set of activities or exercises designed to convey specifi c knowledge, skills or experiences
in an ordered or incremental fashion. Such activities may be implemented either in the classroom during the school day or after
school.”
45 Doug Kirby, 2007 (personal communication).
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programmes.46 Abstinence-only programmes did not increase primary abstinence (prevention) or secondary abstinence
(decreased incidence and frequency of recent sex).