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Migrant girls’ rampant sex spurs problems
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LUCY Lin was recently forced to return home to Anhui Province by her older cousin after the 18-year-old girl became pregnant for the second time within her year-and-a-half stay in Shanghai.
Working in a nail salon since 2012, Lin enjoyed her freedom away from home and developed romances with three men at the same time. Two of them worked at the same salon with her. She had an abortion a few months ago, then got pregnant again recently.
Taking Lin to Shanghai out of a traditional family kindness, the cousin in her 30s found that Lin’s life was going out of her control. She had no choice but to send Lin home as she could not watch over her all day long.
Sex, which used to be a taboo topic for unmarried young women in Chinese culture, is not that mysterious anymore. A more open attitude has been adopted by an increasing number of young Chinese women, including migrants in Shanghai. But awareness of safe sex has not followed.
A recent survey on the reproductive health of migrant female workers in Shanghai shows that more than 70 percent of the post-1990s-generation migrant women in the city had their first sex before 18 years old, while fewer than 30 percent make regular use of condoms or other contraception. A lack of sex education and being away from the shelter of home are the major reasons, according to experts.
The survey was conducted by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) No. 411 Hospital in Shanghai.
More than 10 percent of the survey participants admitted they had abortions or diseases in reproductive system due to unprotected sex. Most of their partners are boyfriends, colleagues or fellow villagers. The PLA hospital has been providing free physical exams and medical consultation to migrant female workers in Shanghai since 2009.
“While providing free physical tests and consultation, we found the rate of unsafe sex very high among the young female migrant workers under 30 years old in Shanghai. Most of them never realized that they actually need contraceptive measures to protect themselves,” says Cheng Xiaomei, associate chief physician at the PLA No. 411 Hospital.
The rate of accidental pregnancy among the group is also very high. Few of the group feel shamed about accidental pregnancy, as many Chinese with traditional values might have expected.
Nancy Mei, 20, from Jiangxi Province, who has been working in Shanghai for four years, was found to be pregnant recently in a free physical examination provided by the hospital.
The woman had a 2-year-old son without marrying the father, and is planning an abortion this time. She is alone in Shanghai, leaving her son in the hometown with her parents.
“It is nothing special. Mei wouldn’t have given birth to the first one but for being diagnosed too late,” says one of Mei’s friends.
She says that almost all of her girlfriends have boyfriends. Many of them have had abortions and consider it just natural. They never use contraception, which in their view is unnecessary or even contrived.
“It often saddens us when we find that so many girls are ignorant about protecting their own health,” says Dr Cheng. “It is not rare that we find serious gynecological disease or sexually transmitted diseases among very young women due to unsafe sex and multiple sex partners. But few of them take advice from the doctors.”
Cheng says most older migrant women do follow doctor’s suggestions but some of the younger ones even reject treatments after being diagnosed.
A 19-year-old woman from Jiangxi Province who had three abortions within a year simply told Cheng that it is never a big deal for her as long as her parents don’t know about it, even if the frequent abortions lead to infertility.
“‘It doesn’t matter whether I can have a baby or not,’ she just told me,” says Cheng, sighing.
Leaving home and working alone in another city at a young age may be a major reason for the young women’s poor awareness in sexual self-protection, says Dr Cheng, adding that the absence of sex education and gynecological health checks also play a role.
Many of the migrant women that Cheng has encountered have very limited knowledge about gynecological health and contraception.
“Their parents never told them about it, and the education they received never involved sex,” says Cheng.
What also worries doctors is that most young migrant women do not get regular physical exams, which means they may not be diagnosed and get proper treatment in the early stage.
Daisy Bu, 21, who’s been working at a beauty salon for two years, says she never gets physical exams, mainly because she doesn’t have time.
“I only have one day off every week and I have plenty of things to do,” says Bu. “Besides, I don’t think it is necessary for me to get one (medical checkup), as I have much knowledge about health maintenance due to my work (as a TCM masseuse). I follow the health-maintaining guidance to keep myself healthy.”
The survey by the No. 411 Hospital also shows a close relevance between migrant women’s health awareness and their income. Almost none of the surveyed migrant women with an monthly income of 2,000-3,000 yuan has ever got any physical exam; about 5 percent of the women earning 3,000-4,000 yuan have had more than one physical exam within the past three years; while about 15 percent of the women with an income of more than 4,000 yuan have physical exams every year, according to Dai Liangtu, director of the obstetrics and gynecology department at the No. 411 Hospital.
“Most young women with low income want to spend money on clothes, cosmetics or simply save rather than spend on physical exams,” says Dai.
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