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Teen girls three-to-five times more likely to be infected than boys
Teenage girls in sub-Saharan Africa are three-to-five times more likely to be infected with the virus that causes AIDS than boys their age. A new study in Malawi, Mozambique and Botswana explores why that is. Carol Underwood, senior research scientist at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health, directed the initiative called Go Girls!. She says community meetings helped define the problem. “We found that girls who were orphans, who were not in school or never attended school, who live in impoverished conditions or are socially isolated are more likely to be HIV-positive.” According to Underwood, girls who don’t have supportive relationships with adults are also more likely to be HIV-positive.

CAPE TOWN — The Department of Science and Technology has lent its support to further research into a tenofovir-based gel for preventing HIV infection among women, hoping the investment will ultimately see SA developing the capacity to manufacture and export the product. Pharmaceutical imports are the fifth-biggest contributor to SA’s trade deficit, so the government is keen to find ways to make more of these goods in SA. Local production also improves security of supply.

What happens when access is there but threats to safety hinders you from competing in the exchange of information and ideas via the Internet? As strange as it may sound to some, apparently that’s one challenge that some young people in South Africa face in what would have been their key to new opportunities and being part of the Information society. Mobile technology penetration is high in South worldwide including especially among school-going youth to such to an extent that access to information is supposed to be on the tip of their hands. However this privilege is enjoyed by few. Challenges such as creating and distributing information that degrades some ICTs are increasingly reflecting physical spaces, with all the social ills faced by women and the girl child. Women continue to suffer harassment and stalking in on-line spaces.

AFTER surviving a brutal stabbing on Friday night, a Nyanga lesbian says she is not afraid of homophobes in townships, adding that their hate crimes “will come to an end” if more victims take action. Nxolo Nkosana, 23, was walking home with her partner, known only as Cindy, after 11pm when suddenly she heard a man shout, “Hey you f***ing lesbian, you tomboy”. She ignored the man at first, but turned around when he kept on hurling insults.

Lesbian Noxolo Nkosana thought she would die when she was stabbed four times by men who accused her of stealing their girlfriends. And Nkosana's neighbours say she deserved what she got. The horrific assault was only a few days before the Department of Justice's meeting with gay and lesbian organisations to find a solution to the scourge of attacks on lesbians. Nkosana, 23, was getting out of a car on Friday night, returning to her home in Crossroads, near Cape Town, after work, when two men, both Crossroads residents, approached. "They called to me but I didn't respond. Then they said: 'Hey you! F***ing tomboy!'," she said. "I kept quiet. When I looked back, one of them was coming for me. He stabbed me twice in the back and I fell down. While my partner screamed for help, he stabbed me two more times."

A Crest Hill youth soccer coach has been charged with having sexual contact with a 12-year-old boy, officials said today. Darrell J. Stephenson, 24, of the 2000 block of Manico Drive, was arrested Friday at his Crest Hill home after an investigation, according to a release today from the Will County Sheriff's Police.

Stephenson, who has been charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, appeared in court this morning and his bail was set at $750,000.

Although South Africa's HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign has reached millions of people, some youths still don't feel safe or comfortable getting tested for HIV and feel left out of national debates about the pandemic. Fezeka Gxwayibeni, 20, brought this to the attention of delegates at the 5th Aids conference when she talked about the needs of the youth with respect to government's HCT programme. Gxwayibeni, who is involved in the Future Fighters Project of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, conducted interviews with three different youth groups about HCT - and found the issue of stigmatisation around HIV still persists. It's common for teenagers to be bullied or ostracised if they are infected with HIV. Gxwayibeni said consideration must be given to where testing sites are and schools will not necessarily be the best options.