246675 'You are obliged to have a second person': Out-of-school girls and young women 12-19 describe increasing HIV risk behavior as a necessity for many to make ends meet in Cote d'Ivoire

Monday, October 31, 2011: 1:06 PM

Rachel A. Weber, PhD , Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD
Fatou Toure Cisse, PhD , Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Abidjan 22, Cote d'Ivoire
Jeanine Coulibaly, MS , Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Abidjan 22, Cote d'Ivoire
Regina Traore, PhD , Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Abidjan 22, Cote d'Ivoire
Young women in Cote d'Ivoire are at considerably greater risk for HIV than their male counterparts. Women with more lifetime sex partners and primary level education have higher HIV prevalence. We conducted formative research among out-of-school girls 12-19 to inform the Super Go program of prevention and empowerment for this high risk group. This research included six focus groups in four cities with 49 female participants. While some participants can support themselves through work, others described for themselves and other youth like them a constant search for money to meet daily needs. When possible, these young women and girls obtain money from family and friends. But often family cannot provide and they turn to boyfriends. If one does not provide enough, they will have multiple sex partners, particularly older men with means. Participants generally had some knowledge of HIV and recognized the risk of having multiple partners, but described how many of their peers must constantly look for support. Participants emphasized that the best way to assist those in their situation is to provide assistance to return to school or help them get jobs or start a business. Knowledge is not enough to prevent HIV for young women and girls. In order for HIV prevention programs to be successful for this group, they must include mechanisms to help them stay in school, get job training and work, or provide the means to start businesses enabling them to support themselves without the need to look to sex partners as providers.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Describe competing priorities of young out-of-school women and girls between protecting themselves from HIV and turning to sex partners for financial support Discuss importance of helping young women to support themselves as a measure to reduce HIV risk

Keywords: Risk Behavior, Women and HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present as I designed this study, supervised field work and conducted analysis of data.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.