Understanding the Discrepancy between Knowledge and Use of Contraceptives at First Sex: Qualitative Evidence from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Ann M. Moore, University of Texas at Austin

The 1996 Brazilian DHS found a near universal knowledge of modern contraceptive methods among the respondents, but only 36.7 percent of females ages 15-24 used contraception at marital coital debut and 14.9 percent used contraception at premarital coital debut. This project presents data from 12 focus groups carried out in June and July 2002 in the municipality of Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais, with low and middle/upper-income women of the ages 18-21 and 30-39 to explore reasons for this discrepancy. The respondents’ give reasons for why contraceptive use at first sex was not a feasible option. They discuss the social value of virginity and how that virginity would be questioned were the female to let on that she had any knowledge of contraception. To actually provide a contraceptive would fully discredit a woman’s sexual reputation. Therefore gender norms continue to undermine progress made by contraceptive access.