Campaign Against Cross-Generational Sex To Fight Spread Of HIV In Uganda
Population Service International
on Wednesday launched a campaign against cross-generational sex in
Kampala, Uganda, to fight the spread of HIV among girls and women,
Uganda's New Vision reports. According to the New Vision,
cross-generational sex occurs when a young girl or woman has a sexual
relationship with a man at least 10 years older than she is. Reprinted with permission from
kaisernetwork.org.
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The
campaign -- which will be implemented in universities and about 50
secondary schools in Uganda -- aims to empower girls and women. It was
launched in response to several studies that found HIV prevalence among
girls ages 15 to 24 in the country was four times higher than boys in
the same age group, the New Vision reports. One study
found that 10% of girls have sexual relationships with older men. In
another study, 20% of girls surveyed said they had had
cross-generational sex and 50% considered it to be normal.
Sylvia
Nagginda, queen of the Ugandan tribal kingdom of Buganda, called for
the end of cultural practices that influence girls to have
relationships with older men. She added that cross-generational sex
will make young women "prone" to unplanned pregnancies and HIV/AIDS.
Miria Matembe, former minister for ethics, said that cross-generational
sex is a widespread issue because it is embraced by several cultures.
"The root cause of this is our traditional and cultural practices,
which undermine girls as sex objects," Matembe said, adding, "The fight
must be broader for the culture of materialism to be broken down"
(Natukunda, New Vision, 8/2).
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Source: kaisernetwork.org on Aug 06 2007 09:05:26 |