Jurnal Sosialisasi Jurnal Hasil Pemikiran, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan Keilmuan Sosiologi Pendidikan Vol 7, Nomor 3, November 2020 Edisua Merab Yta, Ikanaba Unuja Idegu | 8 STORY THEATRE AND THE COMMUNICATION OF ADOLESCENT SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH: THE RAPE OF WOMANHOOD IN CALABAR, NIGERIA Edisua Merab Yta 1 , Emmy Ikanaba Unuja Idegu 2 1,2 Department Of Theatre, Film And Carnival Studies, University of Calabar, Nigeria. gabrielmarcel76@yahoo.com 1 ABSTRACT Young people in Calabar have diverse sexual and reproductive health challenges. Many argue that integrating gender into health programming will help reduce some of these issues because gender is central to shaping many sexual and reproductive health issues. This study used story theatre, as a qualitatively, narrative and participatory approach in trying to understand how gender relates to and influences adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Twenty story sessions were held for a hundred young people (aged 10-19) in four selected communities’ Akai Effa, Ikot Ekpo, Efut Uwanse and Nyakassang all situated in Calabar Municipality and Calabar South Local Government Areas of Cross River State, South-South Nigeria. Sessions were recorded and later coded and analyzed for sexual and reproductive health as well as gender themes. Key findings revealed that rape and gender-related sexual assault and violence, teenage pregnancy, intergenerational as well as the objectification of women ranked amongst the highest Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) and gender issues in the communities. Young females seem to be getting more of the negative effects than boys because they are seen as pleasurable and economic assets. It is recommended that out of the box approaches which will involve multi-systems and stakeholders be used in finding a solution to this worrisome issue. Keywords: Story Theatre, Community, Rape, Womanhood. INTRODUCTION Reducing Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Challenges is a global health concern. According to the World Health Organisation, adolescents are considered as persons between ages 10-19. A UNFPA fact sheet states that globally there are 1.8 billion adolescents and over one-fifth of this population live in sub-Saharan Africa (UNICEF 2014). Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health challenges affect the wellbeing of young people, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Adolescents continue to suffer a high burden of several sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) challenges including, high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), gender based violence and poor access to contraceptives. In fact, considering sub-Saharan Africa, that is the geographical location with the highest burden of HIV, adolescent girls and young women make up 57% of persons living with HIV; and are twice more likely to be infected with HIV as compared to boys and young men (UNAIDS 2014). Each year, almost 16 million adolescents aged 15-19 years give birth, constituting 11% worldwide, the majority of which occurs in developing countries. A report presented by WHO estimated that 3.9 million adolescent girls undergo an unsafe abortion and are exposed to various complications in pregnancy ((Black, Laxminarayan, Temmerman, & Walker, 2016: 26). Research has shown that these negative health outcomes are driven by many factors such as poor economic resources, political policies and socio-cultural norms and practices. Many studies opine that social norms such as gender play a central role in shaping health outcomes. Gender according to Janet Momsen (2019) is the socially acquired notions of masculinity and feminity by which men and women are identified.