Census J; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1998; 12: 726-7 (abstract no. 34207).
NGEN+, Kamapala, Uganda.
ISSUE: During the 10th ICASA conference in Abidjan, it was reported that 16,000 people are infected by HIV everyday, 90% from the sub-Saharan Africa. The most affected are the youth between 20-35 years, the youth girl being the worst hit with the ratio of one boy to six girls. SUBJECT: At the age of 19, a wealthy man who took advantage of poverty in my family promised to pay my school fees, if I could love him. He used my relatives to persuade me. Because of my ignorance of HIV/AIDS, I didn't know that the man was infected. CONSTRAINTS: In most African cultures, a wife doesn't say no to sex once suggested by the husband. The legal and ethical framework is quite inadequate, thus if the man died, his relatives can deny the widow her late husband's property. RESULTS: Most young girls married to rich men in Africa are sacrificed to give care to the already infected old men. After the man dies, the young woman is left in total desolation and isolation, driving her into fatalistic tendencies for survival. LESSONS LEARNT: Unless a practical legal and ethical frame work is put in place to protect young girls, Africa is heading for total disaster. The young girls in Africa should be given skills for survival and avoid resorting to sex as a means of survival. This will reduce the spread of HIV.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Africa
- Africa South of the Sahara
- Choice Behavior
- Congresses
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Culture
- Demography
- Female
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Humans
- Male
- Marriage
- Poverty
- Socioeconomic Factors
- Survival
- Widowhood
Other ID:
UI: 102230573
From Meeting Abstracts