Fighting Poverty, Protecting Women from HIV
Financially empowering young women in poor countries may help protect them against sexually transmitted diseases. A new study shows that addressing poverty can help prevent risky behavior.
Poverty, a lack of education and gender inequality make girls and young women more vulnerable. It happens when they turn to older men for financial help for themselves or their families. Men who may be infected with HIV or herpes.
The findings are based on a study of 13 to 22 year old women in the Zomba district of Malawi. At the start of the study none had ever been married.
“We knew that Malawi was a poor country with a high HIV problem particularly among adolescent girls and young women, especially in the south where we ended up doing our study. So we said, why don’t we start this little pilot experiment to see as a proof of concept whether small amounts of cash transfers can reduce the risk of getting infected?” said Dr. Berk Ozler, a senior economist at the World Bank, who took part in the research.
more: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/decapua-hiv-women-16feb12-139432163.html
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Ones I fully support as well.
I have been very sheltered because I had a great education and I have financial independence.
I know those two things have given me incredible privilege and have allowed me to make choices that too many other women can't make.
I want every woman to be able to make choices that come from what she WANTS TO DO, not from what she feels like she HAS TO DO TO SURVIVE.
