Growing Up Sexually

GUINEA 

Index → Africa→ Guinea

Hanry (1970)[1] found that Guinea sexarche generally took place between ages 12 and 17. “On note cependant un assez grand nombre d’expériences enfantines: 12% de jeunes gens avaient, à leur première expérience, moins de 12 ans [[2]] et 11% de leurs partenaires” (p88). Three in 24 had coitus between ages eight and ten. Masturbation was said to be followed by threats to psychic and physical health (p84), and nearly half of boys did not answer the question.

Reporting on a 1995 survey (Gorgen et al., 1998)[3], the average age of first sexual intercourse was 16.3 for young women and 15.6 for males. The sexual partner is typically a peer.

For another report on adolescent sexuality, see [[4]].

Social status is established through an informally consensus relative to life phases (kare)[5]:

“Although the kare can be defined relatively easily using biological markers such as puberty and fertility, in practice the definitions become more difficult and less precise. Identifying the moment of puberty, for example, is complicated, because it can be at the time of menarche, or when a girl’s breasts begin to develop. Although some families marry off their daughters at the first sign of maturation, others prefer to wait until several years after menarche, when a pregnancy is more likely to be successful”.

Janssen, D. F., Growing Up Sexually. VolumeI. World Reference Atlas. 0.2 ed. 2004. Berlin: Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology

Last revised: Dec 2004