Using Gender to Fight Multiple Risks: HIV/STI Prevention for Girls at Risk for Juvenile Delinquency

Adolescent girls from racial and ethnic groups are at a high risk for both HIV/STIs and juvenile delinquency. In 2006, Black and Latino teens represented 88% of the AIDS cases reported among 13–19 year-olds. Girls who are involved in delinquent behavior such as truancy, drug use, and crime are at an even higher risk for HIV/STIs.   Between 1991 and 2003, girls’ detention rates rose by 98% and commitments to facilities increased by 88%. In response to the need for evidence-based programming that targets the intersection between HIV and juvenile delinquency, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of Women’s Health (OWH) funded a 5-year program to implement gender-responsive HIV prevention for girls who are at risk for juvenile delinquency.  Ten community-based organizations from primarily urban, high-risk areas used culturally appropriate and gender responsive strategies to implement HIV prevention programming for girls ages 12-17. The purpose of this session is to provide an overview of the program model, explain the ways in which gender and gender-responsive strategies were integrated into the intervention, present the evaluation outcomes from this program, and discuss the strengths and challenges of  implementing intensive intervention models. Outcomes from this program provide support for the effectiveness of interventions that target multiple risks and can be used to promote collaborations between the HIV, STI, and delinquency fields.