What Works for Women and Girls

cited in Mathur et al., 2003: 9). Girls and their families and communities need to know thatearly marriage does not necessarily offer protection against HIV transmission. A recent studyin Ethiopia demonstrated that facilitated community conversations and mentors can reducethe number of child marriages that put girls at risk for HIV (Erulkar and Muthengi, 2009).Further efforts to reduce child marriage are needed.Interventions that encourage adolescents to adopt protective behavior and those that addressthe power disparities between young girls and older male partners are of the utmost importancein further efforts to protect adolescents from acquiring HIV. The tendency for unmarriedsexually active adolescent girls to have much older sexual partners puts them at risk of HIV(Luke and Kurz, 2002). Anecdotal evidence suggests that men who are aware of AIDS aretargeting younger girls and, assuming they are ‘risk free,’ are less likely to use condoms withyoung partners. Studies in South Africa and Zimbabwe have found high levels of rape andsexual abuse. [See also Chapter 11B: Strengthening the Enabling Environment: Addressing ViolenceAgainst Women] In many countries, few men who have sex with young girls, with or withoutcoercion, are prosecuted.Ultimately, enabling young people to delay their first sexual experience, to negotiatecondom use when they do have sex, to be able to say no when sex is unwanted, and to reducethe number of concurrent sexual partners are critically important in protecting young womenfrom acquiring HIV. Finding new and promising ways to get accurate information to moreadolescents—particularly adolescents who are not in school—is also important and youthfriendlytechnologies such as text messaging should be further explored.WHAT WORKS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS119