Abstract:
Background: In spite of intensive studies and intervention efforts that have been made so far,
risky sexual behaviour has remained as major public health concerns among young people in
general and among Ethiopian higher education students in particular. Exposure to pornographic
materials which are intended to produce sexual stimulation on its consumer are argued to be one
of the factors leading to risky sexual behavior but contradicting findings exist in the literature.
Objective: To assess pornography Exposure and Its Association with Risky Sexual Behavior
among Students of Hawassa University, Southern Ethiopia, 2016
Methods: Institution based Cross sectional quantitative survey was carried out in April 2016
among 1707 Hawassa University undergraduate regular students. Multi stage clustered
sampling technique was used to select study participants. Self-administered questionnaire was
used for data collection and data were analyzed by SPSS V.21. Multivariate logistic regression
was used to assess association between independent and outcome variables.
Results: 1622 students provided complete information making response rate of 95%. Of this
1446(89.1%) had ever exposed to pornography either intentionally or unintentionally. Rather
than simple exposure, frequency of exposure with in the last six month, usually or always
[AOR=8 at 95% CI (4.793, 14.5], age at the first pornography exposure, 10-13 year (earl
adolescent) [AOR= 1.742 at 95% CI (1.086, 2.79)], practicing what had been watched on
pornography [AOR=12.4 at 95% CI (7.6, 20.2)], watching pornography with romantic partner
[AOR=2.02 at 95% CI(1.095 ,3.725)] watching pornography immediately before sexual
intercourse [AOR=3.91at 95%CI (2.423, 6.31) and intentional exposure to pornography
[AOR=1.657 at 95%CI (1.128, 2.434)] have shown significant association with risky sexual
behaviour.
Conclusion: risky sexual behaviours such as having multiple sexual partners, inconsistent
condom use, having sexual intercourse with commercial sex workers, transactional sex and early
sexual initiation were highly prevalent among Hawassa university students. Type of exposure
and extent of exposure to pornography found to have significant association with risky sexual
behaviour. University and other concerned body should work together to alleviate problem and
empower students with skills and information to criticize and resist sexual media.
