-Mohammad Khairul Alam-
-Executive Director-
-Rainbow Nari O Shishu Kallyan Foundation-
The global HIV/AIDS pandemic signify one of the most pressing threats known to mankind. Globally more then 17.7 million women are now living with HIV/AIDS. This is above 50% of infections worldwide. In some parts of Africa around 60% of people who are HIV positive are women. Last year alone 1 million HIV positive women died of AIDS-related illness.
Adolescents girls are at fastidious vulnerable in HIV/AIDS. In some of the poor countries in world, girls, aged 15 to 19, are infected at rates as much as seven times higher than boys; in some regions, girls are infected at twice the rate. The disproportionate impact is related to widespread sexual abuse and gender discrimination against girls, making it extremely difficult for them to protect themselves. Females are also biologically more vulnerable to HIV/STIs transmission because of the immaturity of their reproductive tracts and the much higher rates of HIV/AIDS transmission from males to females.
It is widely known that some older men who are regular client of sex industry, often seeking young girls or virgin girls, some time they offer huge money for this, so young girls are also trafficked for this. In many AIDS-affected countries, including Thailand, men are seeking younger and younger sex workers in the hope that they will be HIV-negative, but older men are presumed to be HIV negative, mostly in some of the worst affected countries in Africa. This phenomenon, particularly in the poorest countries, often goes beyond the stereotypical man who is much older or much richer; it can involve anybody who has more economic power than a adolescent girl and has no scruples about exploiting such badly poor girls. Openly, the practice feeds on circumstances of poverty and economic dependency and puts adolescent girls at danger of infection from older men or those who have had many sexual partners and are more likely to be infected. Adolescent girls may be bound to engage in sex because they lack livelihood options or to help their families, to feed and provide better their charge. In several cases, this amounts to survival sex and occurs when diluted adolescent girls find no opportunity or economic alternatives.
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