At the margins of the AIDS response: young people and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

• Published in: New York University journal of international law & politics 2008-07, Vol.40 (4), p.1079-1090
• Main Author: Chandler, Caitlin L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Africa; AIDS; International relations; Law; Medical sociology; Prevention; Rape; Sexually transmitted diseases; Stigma; Sub-Saharan Africa; Youth
• ISSN: 0028-7873

Throughout the world, and specifically in parts of Africa, it is the young who are most greatly affected by AIDS and HIV. Much of this is directly due to a lack of information on safe sex practices, and once infected, leaves victims marked with social stigma and maltreatment. Recommends the need for social and legal change for many of these Sub-Saharan countries, as with the enforcement of rape laws. Further, even where education and other programs exist, it is youth that is usually left out of participation. Details examples of youth-centered groups that actually are gaining ground and recognition, despite how rare this is, while then showing first-hand examples of the marginalization that youth experiences at AIDS conferences and workshops. Recommends that one means, besides recognition, is to fund grassroots organizations that are designed to slow the spread of the disease. The United States especially can be a leader in such funding to the end that other countries will be inspired to follow suit. Finally, notes that many AIDS-prevention programs are merely directed at abstention, whereas information about condom use and the dispersal of such disease prevention is very minimal. S. Fullmer