Influence of Sexuality Programmes on the Youth in the Deliverance Church in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

Worldwide, youths engage in risky sexual behaviours which place them at risk of contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions. In Kenya, cases of youths engaging in irresponsible sexual behaviours have been on the rise, with many girls getting pregnant and dropping out of school. In order to curb sexual risk-taking behavior among the youth, religious institutions have attempted to educate young people on their sexuality through youth sexuality programmes. Despite such interventions, youths still engage in high-risk sexual behaviours which adversely affect their health. The objectives of this study, therefore, were to: 

• Establish the effectiveness of the sexuality programmes offered by the Deliverance Church to the youth in Kisumu County, 


• Investigate the challenges Deliverance Church has faced in offering sex education to the youth in Kisumu County and 


• Develop strategies that can be used to improve the sexuality programmes offered by the Deliverance Church to the youth in Kisumu County. 

The theoretical framework of the study was the Sexual Script Theory which postulates that sexual behaviours of human beings are written in a script. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design and was carried out in five branches of Deliverance Church in Kisumu County. A simple random sampling technique was used to sample 210 youths who participated in the study. The study included 38 parents, 6 Sunday school teachers and five pastors who were sampled through a purposive sampling technique. A saturated sampling technique was used to sample the five branches of the Deliverance Church. Structured questionnaires, Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used to collect data. The participants in this study were assured of privacy and confidentiality. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse quantitative data and thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Analysed data were presented in the form of tables, pie-charts, frequencies and percentages. The findings revealed that the approach used in teaching sexuality, topics covered by the sexuality programmes, the duration of teaching sexuality and the facilitators of the sexuality programmes significantly influenced the sexual behaviour of the youth. The study recommended that training should be offered more frequently to teachers and pastors. It also recommended that sex education programmes should be introduced at an early age and should be taught at every stage in life.