HIV is not a girl’s thing: We’re all concerned!

A sizeable literature now links GBV and HIV infection. This is because sexual violence can lead to HIV infection directly. According to a document entitled Addressing violence against women and HIV/AIDS, published by WHO and UNAIDS in 2010, victims of sexual abuse are more likely to be HIV positive, and to have high risk behaviors. More importantly, GBV increases HIV risk indirectly. However, this doesn’t condemn the girl child to being promiscuous, rather a victim of circumstance.

According to UNAIDS, nearly 6,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 24 contract HIV every day, and 63% of these young people are females. Young women are at greater risk of contracting the infection than young men for physiological and social reasons. The female reproductive tract provides ideal conditions for transmission of the virus, and gender inequities mean that females have less control than males over what happens to their bodies. Social risks include early marriage, forced prostitution, and the phenomenon of "sugar daddies" seeking young girls for sex in the belief that the girls are free from HIV infection. 

This month, your Réglo website is taking you through how vulnerable young girls are to HIV but, we can all fight against HIV/AIDs and use condom protection each time during a sexual activity. To conclude in this edition, we see that we are all concerned, against all odds we can put an end to Gender-Based Violence and HIV/AIDs.