Technical Meeting on Young Women in HIV Hyper-endemic Countries of Southern Africa

Young women in southern Africa between the ages of 15 and 24 are on average three to six times more likely to be infected with HIV than their male cohorts (UNAIDS 2004). While biological factors may account for women’s greater susceptibility to HIV, there is clear empirical evidence that age-mixing between young women and older men plays an important role in observed differences in this epidemiological pattern (Gregson et al., 2002). Studies indicate that relationships between young women and older men are common in the region as in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa and are associated with unsafe sexual behaviour and increased HIV risk (Glynn et al., 2001; Kelly et al., 2003; Longfield et al., 2004). These relationships are largely premised upon material gain, with studies revealing that the greater the economic asymmetries between partners and the greater the value of a gift, service, or money exchanged for sex, the less likely the practice of safer sex (Luke, 2003; Wojciki, 2005).