What Works for Women and Girls

nancy. Almost 87% of men and 89% of women in the survey felt that condoms werepart of sex. Six focus group discussions with found that condoms had become partof sex, highly acceptable and easily accessible. If a woman requested condoms, menand women agreed the man must comply. Some men were suspicious of women whoagreed to unprotected sex. Students reported that they would rather use condoms thanjeopardize their future. (Maharaj and Cleland, 2006). (Gray III) (youth, condom use,pregnancy prevention, South Africa)From 1993 to 2001 the use of condoms for pregnancy prevention rose significantly in13 of 18 countries and the median proportion increased from 5.3% to 18.8%. In the 13countries in Africa with available data, condom use at more recent coitus rose from amedian of 19.3% to 28.4%. Of these, 58.5% of condom users were motivated by a wishto avoid pregnancy (Cleland et al., 2006a). (Gray III) (condom use, pregnancy prevention,Africa)An analysis of survey data from 18 African countries found that use of condoms forpregnancy prevention rose significantly in 13 of 18 countries between 1993 and 2001.Condom use among young African women increased by an average annual rate of 1.4percent, with more than half of the users (58.5 percent) reporting that they were motivatedby a desire to prevent pregnancy (Cleland et al., 2006b). (Gray IV) (youth, condomuse, pregnancy prevention, Africa)A study of 678 male adolescents from Brazil found that condoms were the preferredmethod of contraception for 95% of sexually active adolescents Avoiding pregnancy isalso a primary motivation for young men in steady relationships (Juarez and Martin,2006). (Gray V) (adolescents, condom use, pregnancy prevention, Brazil)7. Providing HIV prevention education by people living with HIV (who wish to serodisclose)to youth can reinforce messages about protective behavior.A longitudinal matched control study in Australia to evaluate the efforts on 1,280 youngpeople of talks by people living with HIV who disclose their perspective of living withHIV found that meeting HIV-positive people decreased fear and prejudice, reinforcedmessages about protective behavior and increased the belief that HIV is preventable.Improved attitudes after talks by females remained significant over three months.“Female speakers, in particular, break down common stereotypes about who contractsHIV. They make students realize that anybody is vulnerable to infection” (Paxton, 2002:288). For female students, talks by people living with HIV “reinforced messages ofsafe sex” (Paxton, 2002: 287). Speakers changed perceptions, broke down stereotypes,and made students realize that anybody is vulnerable to infection. Focus group discussionswith 117 students were used to elucidate the impact. Six hundred and twenty-eightrespondents were recruited into the intervention group and 652 into the control. Thequantitative data collection tool was a highly structured Attitude Scale for Teenagers tomeasure attitudes, such as “I would shake hands with a person having HIV.” Short-132 CHAPTER 5 PREVENTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE