Forced sex fuelling HIV/Aids
2004-04-07 22:51
Special Report
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Cape Town - Young South African women are being coerced by their partners into having sex, a trend that renders girls more vulnerable to infection with HIV.
This is one of the alarming findings of the largest survey yet of South African youth, examining sexual behaviour and HIV prevalence.
Almost one-third of sexually experienced women reported that they did not want to have their first sexual encounter.
The study, by the University of the Witwatersrand's reproductive health research unit (RHRU) and commissioned by loveLife, found that among the 10% of South African youth who were HIV-positive, 77% were women.
Nearly one in four women aged between 20 and 24 is HIV positive compared to one in 14 men of the same age.
The survey involved a national representative sample of 11 904 people aged between 15 and 24.
More than 80% of young men said they really wanted to have sex the first time, whereas only 30% of young women reported the same.
Poverty drives many to sex
The survey found that, on average, women were having sex with men four years older than themselves.
This exposed young women to greater risk of HIV infection as well as making it difficult for them to refuse unwanted sex or negotiate condom use.
Commenting on these findings, Lisa Vetten, gender co-ordinator at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, said poverty often drove young women into relationships with older men.
"Very often in this country being with a man is a form of survival. Older men are not the ticket to a better life," Vetten said.
The study also found that 6% of all sexually active youth had been physically forced to have sex.
She expressed concern that young women are being forced into having sex with their boyfriends and that this is still not regarded as rape.
"Many young men and women see this as perfectly normal," she said.
Challenge sense of entitlement
There was a need to tackle this misconception and challenge young men's sense of entitlement.
"They cannot be allowed to think that girls are just here for them to have sex with," she warned.
Another worrying trend to emerge in the RHRU study was that sexually active young women reported having more sex than their male counterparts, a situation that placed women at greater risk of exposure to infection.
According to loveLife CEO, Dr David Harrison, one of the key factors driving this gender disparity was that women were exposed to a greater degree of coercion.
He said young people were immersed in a society that had little tolerance for women's sexual rights and would not change their behaviour while these prevailing norms were still endorsed by older people. - Health-e News Service
- African Eye