[child-rights] Children deprived of right to protect themselves against HIV, says Plan report

31/07/2006 -- Adolescents in the developing world are being denied the
right to protect themselves from AIDS, says a new publication by the
children's agency Plan.

It says young people are taking risks, even when they are well informed
about HIV and AIDS. This is because social, economic and cultural
realities stop them being able to protect themselves.

Educating young people about how HIV is transmitted, and telling them how
to avoid infection is not enough, says the report, "Circle of Hope".

It details how adolescents in low income countries struggle with a daily
conflict between behaviour change messages (promoting sexual abstinence,
faithfulness, or condom use), and the overwhelming social and economic
realities that severely limit their choices of adopting these behaviours.

The report says that most young girls in poor communities do not have the
option to protect themselves through abstinence or condom use. They may be
faithful to one partner, but often have little choice about who this
partner is nor any influence on his faithfulness. Cultural norms force
many girls into child marriages, while economic necessity forces others
into trading sexual favours. And in many societies, boys are under intense
pressure to show their masculinity by being abusive to girls and
practicing unsafe sex.

In Brazil, Plan works with groups of adolescent boys to decrease gender
violence and help them adopt safer sexual behaviour. With games, drama,
and group discussions, the groups explore common beliefs and attitudes,
for instance that men have more sexual urges than women, that sexual and
reproductive health issues are women’s concerns, and that men have
the right to multiple partners while women do not.

At the outset the boys' opinions and perceptions overwhelmingly reflect
the prejudices of the macho culture in which they are growing up. But by
the end of the program many of the boys speak of how their attitudes and
behaviour has changed.

Sixteen year-old Junior commented: "I have learned to be more responsible
and less prejudiced against girls… and I am not at all embarrassed
to obtain and use a condom."

Plan's Chief Executive Tom Miller says: "Children and adolescents
understand the real-life challenges faced by young people. And they know
how best to communicate the message to their own generation. That is why
Plan believes children should be in the driving seat of its responses to
HIV and AIDS."

"Children understand the barriers to safe behaviour and are in a position
to bring about changes that can be sustained into the future. Childhood is
the time when attitudes are formed and behavioural patterns established.
For these reasons, the report argues that it is vital for children and
young people to play a central role in the response to AIDS in their
communities."

Many teenagers have developed their own strategies of dealing with these
conflicts. Yet they are rarely asked for their opinions when million
dollar HIV prevention projects are developed.

In the West African republic of Togo, young people told Plan that the main
problem in their community is poverty. They say that parents do not have
enough money to send their children to school and some parents need their
children to earn money towards the family income. They force their
daughters to abandon school to get married, or to work as a market trader.
And sometimes they even send their children abroad to do domestic work.

The report outlines Plan's child-centred response to HIV and AIDS. This
response focuses on involving children and addressing their priority
concerns. In line with their concerns, it abolishes the artificial
distinctions between HIV prevention, care of those already infected, and
measures to lessen the impact of the epidemic on affected communities.

Plan says that in order to be effective in the long term, programs and
policies for HIV prevention and care among children and young people
should:

* address the social, economic and cultural factors that underpin sexual
behaviour
* meet the priority needs of the majority of children in the community
* give children and young people an active role in identifying key issues,
determining priorities, and implementing the response.

Download the full report: Circles of Hope: a rights-based approach to
HIV and AIDS <http://www.plan-international.org/pdfs/circle.pdf>
(PDF, 4.4 Mb)

Press release Plan International