{"id":14462,"date":"2014-04-16T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-04-16T18:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/africans-among-the-most-morally-opposed-to-contraception\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:22:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:22:35","slug":"africans-among-the-most-morally-opposed-to-contraception","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/04\/16\/africans-among-the-most-morally-opposed-to-contraception\/","title":{"rendered":"Africans among the most morally opposed to contraception"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking to bishops from Tanzania last week, Pope Francis praised church workers<\/a> in Africa \u201cwho strive diligently to educate people in the area of sexual responsibility and chastity\u201d with the aim of preventing HIV and AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to more than two-thirds of the world\u2019s people living with HIV, according to amfAR<\/a>, The Foundation for AIDS Research.<\/p>\n\n

\"Many<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

While Francis didn\u2019t specifically refer to condom use, his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, once said that condoms can \u201cincrease the problem\u201d<\/a> of HIV and AIDS by encouraging promiscuity. Roman Catholic Church teaching<\/a> rejects the use of artificial contraception on a moral basis.<\/p>\n\n

Several African nations stand out among the most conservative on the issue of contraceptive use, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey<\/a> of people in 40 countries. Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and Senegal ranked among the nine countries with the most moral opposition to contraception.<\/p>\n\n

In Nigeria and Ghana, roughly half or more of each population said that contraceptive use is morally unacceptable (54% and 52%, respectively). Out of the 40 countries surveyed, only Pakistan (65%) had a higher rate of opposition.<\/p>\n\n

There is less moral objection to contraception in the other sub-Saharan African nations in the survey, but significant shares in Uganda (38%), Kenya (33%) and Senegal (28%) said contraceptive use is morally wrong. The comparable figure for the U.S. is 7%.<\/p>\n\n

South Africa, which has more people living with HIV\/AIDS<\/a> than any other nation, stands out in sub-Saharan Africa for its lower level of moral opposition to contraceptive use. Just 15% of South Africans said contraception is morally unacceptable, while fully two-thirds (68%) said it is morally acceptable. A study published in 2012<\/a> by the British Royal Society found that increased condom use was the \u201cmost significant factor\u201d in slowing the spread of HIV<\/a> in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n

Explore attitudes in countries around the world with our Global Views of Morality<\/a> interactive.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five sub-Saharan African nations \u2013 Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya and Senegal \u2013 rank among the nine countries with the most moral opposition to contraception<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_crdt_document":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[161,180],"bylines":[854],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[514,511],"research-teams":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-14462","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-beliefs-practices","category-catholicism","bylines-michael-lipka","formats-short-read","regions-countries-international","regions-countries-sub-saharan-africa"],"label":"Short 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