Dr. Luis Ernesto Feliz Baez, director of the National Department for the Control of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (DIGECITTS), is concerned that young Dominicans are becoming sexually active too early. He quotes a Program for the Education of Sexual Effects (PEAS) survey that reveals that 20% of 7th and 8th graders had already engaged in sexual activity before entering that grade. Of that 20%, 7% of students admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse with adults. The study included 40 schools and 1,800 students in 9 regions.
Of those who engaged in sexual activity, 82% said it was heterosexual while 12% admitted to same-sex activity. Four percent of those questioned said that sex had been forced while 31% said the forced sex was with an adult.
What’s most troubling about the survey is that 42% believe that HIV is transmitted through mosquito bites, 20% believe it could be transmitted by using public bathrooms and 22% didn’t know the answer. The survey found that 28% of 7th and 8th graders have been solicited for sex while 23% of these reported that an adult had asked them for sex.