This week, as we study some of the issues of girls' health in childhood and adolescence,

the second issue that we take up is girls' vulnerability to HIV and AIDS.

In this unit, we are looking particularly at girls between the ages of about twelve

and nineteen, who make up the group in the world that is most vulnerable to contracting

HIV and AIDS.

Adolescence is a time of great change -- physical intellectual and emotional.

Therefore it is not surprising that adolescents experience major alterations in health as

they move toward their adult identities.

People of this age worldwide are poor: 90% live in resource-poor countries.

They are under-educated in the least developed countries of the world-- almost one third

are illiterate, and fewer girls than boys have access to education beyond elementary

school.

About one third of the world's young people are without jobs or living in abject poverty

according to the International Labor Organization.

Youth are sexually active and suffer the highest infection rates from HIV-AIDS and other sexually

transmitted diseases.

The prevalence of HIV and AIDS reveals deeply ingrained inequalities in our societies as

it strikes hardest at those already systematically deprived.

Therefore, the face of HIV/AIDS is increasingly a female face, and the spread of this disease

is nothing short of a disaster.

Women, particularly young women, are at greater risk for HIV-AIDS than men, both biologically

and socially.

The expanse of soft tissue in women's bodies provides greater opportunity for infection

by the virus, and women's subordinate status strips them of power to negotiate in sexual

encounters.

According to the United Nations the global prevalence of HIV among young women was about

double that of young men in 2010.

In sub-Saharan Africa females made up 70.8% of infected youth in 2010 and in some parts

of sub-Saharan Africa young women were eight times more likely than young men to be HIV-positive.

In eastern and southern Africa the main risk factor for women contracting HIV is being

married, since cultural norms permit and even encourage men to have several sexual partners

outside of marriage but deprive women, married or not, of control over their sexual relations.

We have focused on Africa, but in Asia there is a similar trend.

HIV infection rates among Asian women are soaring, and being married is one of the biggest

risk factors there as well, according to United Nations officials.

HIV-AIDS epitomizes more than any other disease the intersection of health and human rights.

It is a disease.

It is also a symbol and symptom of an unjust world where young and poor women in developing

countries, deprived of control over their lives and their bodies, and, once infected,

are left to die.

There is some good news.

Increasing numbers of local nongovernmental organizations, especially in Africa, are providing

health education and medications to people at the grassroots working at community levels.

Better medications are being developed and made available.

Ultimately the key to the fight against AIDS--beyond health care and information-- is to recognize

that women themselves need to be at the forefront of providing solutions to the ongoing crisis.

A permanent solution to this and to other health and human rights issues requires challenging

and changing women's roles in their societies empowering them economically and socially

to resist forced marriages and trafficking and to have access to education, equality,

and jobs for a better life.

Some of the courageous groups addressing the issue of HIV-AIDS are described at the end

of Chapter 4 of my book which is about adolescence, change, and vulnerability.

I hope that you will read Chapter 4 and take note of the descriptions at the end of the

chapter of groups addressing these issues.

Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS

International Women's Health and Human Rights

Meet the Instructors