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This paper considers the risks to young women of cross-generational sex, given that young women (15-24 years old) in sub-Saharan Africa are three times more likely to be infected with HIV than young men of the same age.
This four-page brief discusses the major factors that place girls at risk of HIV infection: social isolation, absence from school, child marriage, unsafe sex, and pressure to provide productive labor. The document offers suggestions on better reaching girls, including targeting areas with high concentrations of girls, increasing adolescent girls' attendance in school, delaying marriage, supporting girls-only spaces, mentoring, and livelihoods…
This paper explores the relationship between economic independence, empowerment, and reproductive health for girls and young women. With a focus on East and Southern Africa, it uses examples of promising programs to highlight potential responses and lessons learned.
These fact sheets intertwine gender as part of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and provide gender-sensitive, topic-specific information on the core areas of HIV/AIDS. Some of these areas include Human Rights, Education, Global Commitments, Young People, Male Participation, Conflict Situations, Rural Development, and Monitoring and Evaluation.
This article explores the gender dimensions of the AIDS pandemic, focusing on its impact on the girl child. It draws on the rights-based approach and argues that the protection and recognition of the rights of the girl child are essential in the face of the AIDS pandemic in Southern Africa. The article gives insights into some innovative programmes that have been developed in Zimbabwe and recommendations for improving the conditions of, and…
There is now greater urgency for global policy action because child brides are increasingly more vulnerable to HIV infection. This policy guide is part of a wider advocacy strategy to raise awareness on child marriage and its effects on communities. It is also part of the wider initiative on preventing HIV infection, particularly among adolescent girls and it aims to stimulate decision- makers worldwide, in particular government policy-makers,…
Attitudes towards gender that are formed in early childhood can play a significant role in creating adult behaviors that lead to the spread of HIV/AIDS. This working paper explores how to use the early years to lay the foundations for HIV/AIDS prevention.
The Society for Adolescent Medicine notes progress in the scientific understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of HIV. Likewise advances have been made in the prevention of perinatal transmission of HIV. However, SAM notes that great challenges still exist for those working to prevent HIV/AIDS in adolescents and young adults and to provide treatment, care and support for those who already are infected. This document updates the position of…
This is number 15 in the series, YouthLens: on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. This issue looks at the health risks associated to early marriage for female youth; including a distinct and substantial risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS. This Issue also discusses ways in which to reduce early marriage, such as programs that help foster policies and norms that support later marriage and offer services, resources, and options to families to delay marriage…
Prepared for the UNESCO Institute for Education workshop "Learning and Empowerment: Key Issues in Strategies for HIV/AIDS Prevention" (Chiangmai, Thailand, March 2004), this 25-page report explores and evaluates the work of the South African organization DramAidE. Established in 1992, DramAidE (Drama in AIDS Education) uses drama, peer education, and participatory media development in an effort to critically engage young people to communicate…
This 5-page brochure focuses on factors that increase girl's risk of HIV/AIDS. Illustrated with orange and white text and graphics, this brochure aims to provide some basic facts about HIV/AIDS and girls. The brochure also suggests solutions to help protect girls and enable them to protect themselves from this pandemic. It is one of a series to help NGOs protect the needs and rights of girls through action and advocacy.
Behavioral, physiological and socio-cultural factors make young people more vulnerable than adults to HIV infection. This report provides a regional overview of adolescents' knowledge of HIV/AIDS and behaviors in Sub-Saharan Africa that put them at risk for or protect them from infection. It also examines the social and economic context of adolescents' lives. All of these factors are fundamental to understanding the progression of the epidemic…
This is a brief based on a background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents held in Geneva, Switzerland, 9-12 December 2003. Over the next decade in developing countries, more than 100 million girls under the age of 18, "children" as defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, will be married. In countries with HIV epidemics, these girls, most of whom live in Africa and Asia,…
A PSI study of Kenyan women's and men's motivations for entering into cross-generational relationships and their risk perceptions of such relationships shows that most participants underestimate the risk of sexually-transmitted infections and HIV. HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects young African women as compared to older men. This research brief examines the motivations for cross-generational relationships, the perceived risks of these…
This issue brief provides an overview of the impact of HIV/AIDS on young people around the world using a variety of sources and studies. It includes specific data on youth prevalence rates, organized by gender and region. It also predicts the future impact on youth, with a section on each youth group considered at risk. Certain sub-populations of youth have been identified as bearing a disproportionate share of HIV's proliferation and/or are at…
The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) co-hosted a three-week email discussion on Young Women and HIV/AIDS. The discussion explored the (i) Intersections between youth, gender and HIV/AIDS; (ii) Emerging challenges and successes in HIV/AIDS for young people (particularly young women); and (iii) Ways in which youth can participate in addressing gender and youth issues in…
There are 11.8 million young people (aged 15-24) living with HIV/AIDS globally -- 7.3 million are young women and 4.5 million are young men. This report contains important new data about why young people are key to defeating the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, including results from more than 60 new national surveys. It reaffirms that we must accord top priority to making investments in the well-being of young people and to engaging them in the fight…
This report focuses on one crucial aspect of adolescent reproductive rights in Zimbabwe: the right to access dual protection methods and information. The "right to access dual protection methods and information" is a component of a broader set of internationally recognized reproductive rights, including the fundamental rights to reproductive self-determination, to non-discrimination, and to reproductive health care. The report documents legal,…
Today's young people are the AIDS generation. They have never known a world without HIV. Millions have already died. Yet the HIV/AIDS epidemic among youth remains largely invisible to adults and to young people themselves. Stopping HIV/AIDS requires comprehensive strategies that focus on youth. This report focuses on why youth are vulnerable, what steps can be taken to address the epidemic and potential avenues for action.
'Auntie Stella' was originally produced as an activity pack for use in schools with young Zimbabweans aged 13 to 17 years, and later developed as a website. It has been used in schools to stimulate discussion among young people on key teenage issues, and also gives information that teenagers find hard to get elsewhere. Both the print and website versions use the question and reply format of problem page letters written to agony aunts in…