A COMPREHENSIVE national study aimed at collecting data on sexual attitudes in Cyprus is expected to be carried out in the near future, a senior programme officer at the Family Planning Association said yesterday.
No such statistics are currently available on the island. “We do not know if people are for or against abortion, how many unwanted pregnancies there are or how many terminations are carried out each year – let alone underage terminations – whether or not people are becoming more promiscuous, what percentage of the population suffers from a sexually transmitted disease (STD), whether protection is something Cypriots frequently use,” Despo Hadjiloizou, 52, told the Cyprus Mail.
Knowing the answers to such questions would give the Family Planning Association a clearer picture of the current sexual situation on the island, including trends, changes and attitudes. The association would then be better equipped to address possible concerns or problems.
“There are no statistics in Cyprus on anything related to sexual habits. If a doctor tells you he or she knows how many underage abortions are carried out a year for instance, it’s an entirely empirical figure and not based on any research. One doctor might give you a much larger figure than another, depending how many he or she has carried out over the past year,” Hadjiloizou explained.
The family planning official blamed peoples’ mentalities for the lack of information. “It’s really hard to collect data on someone’s sex life. Most people don’t talk about things like that openly, let alone answer a questionnaire specifically designed for that purpose.
“Cyprus is a small island and people are afraid in case people find things out.”
She stressed such a study would be entirely confidential.
“It would be beneficial to know how many people have had, or have, an STD other than AIDS for example. With that in mind we could look at whether they are more predominant in rural or urban areas, or if age, or a person’s sex, makes a difference,” said Hadjiloizou. For all we know, she added (though she doubted it), Cyprus could have unwanted pregnancy rates as high as those in the UK.
But this lack of data might soon be a thing of the past as attitudes are changing, she said.
“I have been teaching sex education for years and have noticed a number of changes. Ten years ago, I would never have been able to show school children a condom. Now, I show them to all the older kids. One day, I believe we will actually start handing them out.”
The 52-year-old added that although Cyprus was pretty liberal in most respects, its abortion law was restrictive.
“Legally, you are only allowed to have an abortion if either the mother’s life is in danger – whereby she needs the signed permission of two doctors’ – or if the embryo is not well and is, for example, suffering from say Down’s Syndrome or thalassaemia.”
Although this law is not strictly enforced, it was passed in 1974 and has not been changed since.
“Of course women have abortions for lots of other reasons, but they can only do so privately because hospitals strictly abide by the law,” she said, adding that although the law did not specify a pregnancy limit, most had abortions eight weeks into their pregnancy.
No one has gone to jail for having an abortion that is technically illegal. Most doctors – 98 out of 100 – are willing to perform the 20 to 30 minute procedure for an estimated fee of £200, she said.
“But this is a surgical abortion,” said Hadjiloizou, pointing out it was different to a medical abortion (the abortion pill known as RU486).
“I do not think we will introduce RU486 here. Even though it is a method that has been around for a good decade, it has not been adopted by a lot of European countries and our existing abortion law will not allow for it.”
Hadjiloizou said it was the Family Planning Association’s policy to advise couples on contraception and prevention methods.
“Saying this, however, we do offer pre and post abortion counselling. In fact counselling is something the association is strongly in favour of, as deciding to have an abortion can be an extremely difficult ordeal for any woman to have to go through,” said Hadjiloizou.
“It’s all very hush-hush when you have an abortion, and I don’t just mean in Cyprus. A woman needs support and guidance before and after her decision, because she may find herself regretting it in 10 years time, even though at the time it was the right decision – for her – to make.”
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
