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More Young Women Becoming Infected with HIV

More Young Women Becoming Infected with HIVAS it celebrates 16 days of activism against gender violence, UNIFEM is concerned about the increased number of HIV cases among women between the ages of 15 and 44 in the Caribbean.

Programme Associate for Gender and HIV with UNIFEM, Monique Springer, noted that the UNAIDS Report for 2006 showed that the number of people living with HIV in the Caribbean had now reached record levels, with some 330 000 people living with the disease. Of that total, some 22 000 were under the age of 15, and 51 per cent of the adults were women. Springer added that in Trinidad, adolescent young women between the ages of 15 and 19 were six times more likely to be HIV infected than their male counterparts. In Jamaica and Barbados, this ratio was 2.5 to one and two to one respectively.

The UNIFEM representative attributed this to the susceptibility of girls and young women to infection, as well as the sugar daddy syndrome , where young women got involved with older men. Owing to the age difference, Springer said that the women were often unable to demand condom use and were often faced with physical and sexual abuse that could lead to HIV infection, since they relied on the men for financial and other assistance.
Her comments came at the start of a one-day workshop for secondary school students, put on by the National Organisation of Women at the Grande Salle of the Tom Adams Financial Centre.

In his address, Anglican Bishop of Barbados, the Right Reverend Dr. John Holder, warned the boys present that they had no right to inflict violence on women, as it was cowardly and immoral to use their natural strength against someone who was not as strong. He told the student body that violence was not a good way to resolve problems as it is very destructive, and encouraged them to look for more peaceful ways of handling disputes and to put those methods into action when faced with a troublesome situation.

Source: www.barbadosadvocate.com



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It is a cruel reality that there is a general attitude of aloofness and disdain towards the issues of HIV/AIDS. Those infected often find themselves battered by the hands of alienation and stigmatisation. In many instances, those who engage in sexual practices that put them at risk prefer to live in denial than face life as an infected person.

Through this comprehensive web portal, we here at the Ministry of Health hope to combat the many ideologies and practices that promote and perpetuate behaviours that may lead to HIV/AIDS infection. We also want to assure those who are at risk and those who have been infected that are places to go and communities that care.

We welcome you to Barbados HIV/AIDS Information Portal and hope that the information provided will be of value to you.

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