‘Walkin’ about at night’: the background to teenage pregnancy in a remote Aboriginal community

Abstract

In Australia, Indigenous young women are more likely to become pregnant while in their teens than non-Indigenous young women. Factors such as poverty, educational outcomes and unemployment play a major role; however, there is little understanding of the attitudes of young women themselves with regards to pregnancy. This paper explores young women's decisions regarding their sexual relationships and pregnancy in a remote Australian Aboriginal community, called River Town. It focuses on young women's motivations to pursue sexual relationships and the information about sex and male behaviour to women that informs their decision-making. ‘Walkin’ about at night’ is the term that River Town residents use to describe the nocturnal activities of adolescent females. The focus of this activity is for a young woman to find and maintain a relationship with a boy. Although it is considered by the young women to be one of the most exciting parts of their lives, it carries with it the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. Young women are very aware of the first of these risks, if not the second, as teenage pregnancy is the norm in the community.

Keywords:

• youth culture
• sexuality
• health

Notes

1. Petrol sniffing is a common form of substance abuse in many remote Aboriginal communities (Brady 1992, Senior and Chenhall 2006, 2007). It is predominately a practice associated with adolescent boys. The petrol sniffers also use the cover of darkness to pursue their habit, away from the prying eyes of adults. They are a distinct group from the other adolescents in the community.

2. Shame has a variety of meanings in Aboriginal English, ranging from feelings of shyness, embarrassment or acknowledgement of infringing a social norm, or expected behaviour. In this case, the shame people are talking about relates to the visibly pregnant young women, and the notion that the family should have done something to prevent her from being in this condition.

3. Centrelink is the Government agency responsible for providing welfare payments such as unemployment benefits, disability and aged pensions, and parenting allowances.