Young people’s access to sexuality education in Malta, and its impact

Abstract

The dissertation investigates young people’s access to sexuality education (SE) in Malta. The study explores young people’s perspectives on SE delivered in secondary school (SS) and through other channels. It focuses on the resources available and their effectiveness, how young people utilise these resources, preferred sources, and any existing barriers that may hinder them from accessing SE. This was done by employing a qualitative approach and collecting data by carrying out semi-structured interviews with six young people aged between 18 and 25 years old, coming from all the three types of schools: state, church, and independent. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed from Maltese to English. The data collected was thematically analysed (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Clarke & Braun, 2017) and draws on different models of SE as the conceptual framework. The findings show that participants felt that the content and material provided in the delivery of SE lessons were very limited. This is why the participants found non-school based SE more useful. Non-school based included the internet, which proved to be the most dominant source among the respondents, social settings, parents, and professionals. On the other hand, despite having these sources available out of school, young people still claimed to be facing different barriers in accessing sexuality- related information, such as stigma and taboo surrounding sexuality within Maltese society, religion, and lack of guidance on reliable sources. The study recommends more adequate training on how to deliver SE, more educators, and more provision of media literacy to young people, as beneficial tools for them.