Abstract:
The increasing HIV incidence amongst people aged 15-24 years and the reported gaps in sexeducation
received at school and reported risky sexual behaviour in South Africa justifies the
importance of this study. This study examines the risky sexual behaviour and perceptions among
first-year students enrolled at Monash South Africa in South Africa. This four-phased mixed
methods pilot study explored whether a sex-education intervention tool positively influenced
risky sexual behaviour. Phase 1 used self-administered questionnaires to obtain quantitative and
qualitative baseline data. In Phase 2 a sex-education intervention tool was designed to address
identified gaps. In Phase 3 a prospective cohort of 12 mixed-gender students participated in the
sex-education intervention sessions and was followed up a month later (Phase 4) to evaluate the
effectiveness of the tool. Phase 1 participants (139) were between 18- 21 years. The level of sexeducation
knowledge amongst the participants was low and of a poor quality; this could be a
result of poor preparation at school. The results suggest the necessity of sex-education
programmes for university students considering the low proportion of students entering
university with basic sex education. Of the 139 participants, 27 were identified with risky sexual
behaviour and considered for an intervention. The intervention participants felt more able to be
responsible for their behaviour after the intervention. The participants reported that the sexeducation
intervention tool influenced their risky sexual behaviour positively. This pilot
intervention study can be adopted by universities interested in engaging their students about their
sexual health and augmenting school-level interventions.
