Abstract

A very wide range of sexual practices are available to adolescents. The options range from the socially approved act of absolute sexual chastity to uncommon ones such as group sex and same-gender sex. Many studies in the area of sexuality in Nigeria proceed from the premise that adolescent sexual behaviour hardly ever goes beyond premarital heterosexual intercourse whether it is voluntary, forced or transactional. Others are aware that other possibilities exist but hardly seek to document them. Thus, very little is known about the extent to which adolescents are involved in these “unusual” or atypical sexual practices. Using data from a survey of 614 sexually active adolescents in Lagos metropolis, this article fills the lacuna in the literature on the prevalence of atypical sexual practices in an urban setting in Nigeria. The results show that about 14% of the subjects had been involved in at least one of the two atypical sexual acts and about 1% had been involved in both acts. The study concludes therefore that sexual practices labelled “uncommon”, “atypical” or “unusual” may not be as uncommon as people often imagine.

Key words: Unusual sexual behaviour, uncommon sexual behaviour, adolescent sexuality, group sex, homosexuality.