AIDS and sexuality among low-income adolescent women in Recife Brazil.

This study aimed to understand how low-income female adolescents in Recife Brazil perceive their sexuality. It also determined the factors that increase their vulnerability to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infection to help develop appropriate prevention strategies. Conducted by the Casa de Passagem the research process consisted of training activities for interviewers and the construction of a questionnaire used in the interview with 255 adolescents. Overall results indicated that 30% of the girls interviewed were 13-14 years old 29% were 15-16 years old and 41% were 17-19 years of age. Data from the group exercises revealed that girls felt a great deal of pressure to remain virgins and that there were negative repercussions for losing their virginity which included negative gossip pressure from boys to have sex and neighbors not allowing their daughters to play with nonvirgins. It was further noted that adolescent girls are at risk of HIV infection because of lack of information unprotected sexual intercourse and inconsistent condom use. In addition the short duration of relationships suggests that adolescent girls may have multiple partners over time due to frequent partner change. Based on these findings several intervention programs are recommended.