Malawi Sex Initiation Puts Girls at Risk for HIV

In Malawi, almost a third of new HIV cases occur in women under the age of 30, in part because of traditional coming-of-age ceremonies that introduce young girls to sex, according to AIDS activists. Malawi’s Demographic and Health Survey shows that 20 percent of young girls in the southern African country become sexually active before age 13. Many of them do so with limited knowledge of safe sex. People working to combat HIV/AIDS infection blame cultural and traditional practices in...

© La Voix de l'Amérique - vendredi 18 juillet 2014