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Lately, More than half of
all new HIV infections occur in women between the ages of 15 to 24 years. The
impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls is particularly acute. In many developing
or poor countries, women are often economically, culturally and socially
disadvantaged and lack equal access to treatment, financial support and
education. In a number of societies, women are mistakenly perceived as the main
transmitters of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Together with traditional
beliefs about sex, blood and the transmission of other diseases, these beliefs
provide a basis for the further stigmatization of women within the context of
HIV/AIDS.
AIDS is a deadly disease,
but also everybody can safe from it by gathering knowledge. While men generally
have more access to information on sexual issues than women, some cultural
barrier, the sexual knowledge for adolescent girls are often overlooked. Recent
survey in Bangladesh by Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation & L.R.B
Foundation has shown that while provide HIV information with discussions of
safe-sex or gender issue may be discouraged for young girls and women because of
the ordinary belief that to inform them about sexuality and safe-sex is to
encourage sexual activity. Even though that for fear of encouraging sexual
activity, mothers deny imperative information about sexual-live, safe sex,
reproductive health information from their daughters.
Bangladesh is a poor
country. Not all Adolescent girls are fortunate enough to attend school. This
might be for one of a variety of reasons. In some areas, it is needed to pay for
schooling, and poor parents may be unable to afford to send a child to school,
or may be unable to send all their children to school. Sometimes children will
be required to work. In some locations, young people may live in areas where a
local school is not accessible. In some circumstances, young people may have
been excluded from school for reasons that might be due to the young person’s
behaviour, academic or intellectual abilities, or due to discrimination. These
young girls are especially vulnerable and neglected, coming under the purview of
government programs only once they are pregnant- the majority is out of school
and are neither serviced by educational or school health programs nor by child
health, reproductive health and nutrition services.
The developing world is now
bearing the full brunt of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Gender discrimination, less
jobs opportunity, women's rights and limited access to financial resources of
women are more likely to become economically dependent on men, relegated to the
subsistence sector or forced into commercial sex work. Men are also beginning to
seek younger sexual partners believing that these girls are less likely to be
infected with HIV. Young girls are vulnerable to coerced sex, including rape and
other sexual abuse - within and outside the family - and forced sex work. Any
non-consensual or coerced penetrative sex can carry an increased risk of HIV
transmission, particularly as men are not likely to use condoms in these
situations. The majority infections take place in infants or young children,
adolescent and sexually active adults.
Safe-sex knowledge is an
important part of effective HIV prevention. It is generally believed that it
enables people to acquire knowledge and develop skills which they can use to
protect and promote their sexual health through minimizing the risks that they
might face in the course of their sexual experiences. We should being informed
them about the facts and the dangers of HIV/AIDS enables young people to protect
themselves and is a crucial tool in the battle against HIV/AIDS. There is no
cure or vaccine for HIV/AIDS, so prevention is the only method in which we can
place any limits on the epidemic. One of the most economical and effective means
of HIV prevention is education – involving young people themselves in the HIV
prevention effort.
References: UNAIDS, World
Bank, STD network, LRB report 2006
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Mohammad Khairul Alamtag: female,
male, commercial, floating, street, sex workers, aids, hiv, csws, idus, fsws,
girls, women, consensual, premarital, exmarital, sexuality, empowerment,
gender, education, prevention, dhaka, india, pakistan, bangladesh,
adolescent, teen, teenage, truck drivers. trafficking, epidemic, street
girls, knowledge, young people, discrimination, nonconsensual, coerced sex,
sexual partners, safe sex, sexually transmitted diseases, stds, stis, sexual
abuse, forced sex, risky sexual behaviour, business, multi partner sex,
heterosexual, injection, intravenous drugs users,
prostitution,
men who have sex with men, msm, harassment, sugar daddies, relationships,
condom, polygamy, homosexuality, extra marital, relations, truckers, migrant
workers, gay, hijras, hermaphrodites, professional blood donors, heroin
smokers, hotel, brothel, street based commercial sex workers, casual sex
workers, so called sex workers, violence, exploitation, Rainbow Nari O
Shishu Kallyan Foundation, Mohammad Khairul Alam |
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