Short Form

Sexual violence and unintended pregnancy in South Africa: Is there a link?

A study among adolescents and young women in South African universities found that girls who had experienced sexual violence were more likely to report an unintended pregnancy compared with those who had never experienced sexual violence.

#SliceofLife: I uncovered a child sex trafficking ring in my grade one class

When a primary school teacher in the Western Cape suspected that one of her pupils was being sexually abused, she did everything she could to help. Here’s what happened next.

Tongues & other taboos: Why queer sex ed is good for everyone

Lesbian teenagers have a lower chance of getting a sexually transmitted infection, but the threat remains. Even though South Africa’s sex education curriculum includes all the right lessons to help pupils of all sexual identities have safe sex in theory, the information that filters through to them is still up to individual teachers.
Shortcoming: Most sexual enhancers sold off the shelf have never been scientifically tested

The downside of sex ‘enhancers’

There are many off the shelf products to help your sex life, but little is known about them – and their effects.
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‘I punched him on his potatoes’: Meet the grannies fighting back against GBV

Korogocho is one of Nairobi’s most dangerous slums, where rape and robbery are common. Beatrice Nyariara is helping women aged 55 to 90 to fight back.
The V female condom has a thin pouch

The female condom showdown: Lovers Plus Inner Condom, the Cupid and the V

South Africa is pumping more money into female condom distribution. We look at what's on the market and what's to come for the femidom.
When these women fell pregnant

Forced abortions: A new frontier in the war on women’s bodies?

Partners and families allegedly drugged women and in some cases even physically restrained them as doctors performed the procedure.

#SliceOfLife: I took on Big Pharma and won

Around the time Phumeza Tisile was receiving treatment for extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), the cure rate for patients with that form of the disease was 15%. Tisile beat XDR-TB despite the odds, but not without a cost: she lost her hearing.

‘We take the fish out of the water’: Three myths about vasectomies – busted

A vasectomy is a permanent form of contraception for men. During this surgical procedure, the tubes that take sperm from the testicles to the glands that make semen are cut — in about the time of a lunch break.
Ursula Kekana is slowly overcoming her anxiety caused by her heavy menstrual cycle.

#FreeToBleed: ‘A pool of blood gushed down my thighs. My white socks were red.’

Shame doesn't start when menstruation begins. It is built in slow steps.
Farmer Bayanda Maseko opens up about his mental health.

‘It’s every man for himself’: Why this farmer says he needs mental health help

Bayanda Maseko lost 2 000 chickens and more than R100 000 he invested in his farm in 2022, all because of loadshedding. Maseko says psychological support is needed in an industry where “it's every man for himself”. He speaks about the impact of these losses on his mental health in the March episode of Bhekisisa’s television show Health Beat.

#SliceOfLife: I survived the most deadly type of TB, but it cost me a...

Goodman Makanda survived the most drug-resistant form of tuberculosis that scientists know of, but he lost a lung to the disease in the process. Now, he says he would “rather die” than take handfuls of TB medicine again.

What’s pleasure got to do with sex ed? This project shows it can increase...

The International Planned Parenthood Federation’s digital campaign Treasure Your Pleasure is using an evidence-based sex-positive approach to educate young Africans about safe sex.
[WATCH] Busted: Three myths about drug addiction

‘Bluetoothing’: The drug myth that fooled a nation?

Outreach workers say the practice making headlines isn’t as widespread as it’s been made out to be as they rush to prevent more from trying it.
A man takes a dose of methadone at Ar Rahman mosque in Kuala Lumpur

Myths and methadone: Will Egypt’s laws bend to the rising tide of drug abuse?

The real revolution is yet to come when it relates to the country’s opioid epidemic.
US professional societies urge women should be warned that water births remain largely untested within the scientific community.

Could a water birth be right for you? Weigh up the pros and cons

More South African parents are choosing to bring their baby into the world with a splash, but is it better than conventional births?