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Educating girls as a ‘social vaccine’ against HIV

The global AIDS epidemic is increasingly affecting women. In sub-Saharan Africa, which has been hit the hardest by the disease, 57 percent of those infected are women. Research has shown that in the early stages of the epidemic, highly educated women were more vulnerable to HIV infection than the less educated. Is this still the case?

In 2006, over 100 countries made a pledge to ensure universal access to AIDS prevention, treatment and care by 2010. Despite this commitment, prevention efforts have not been launched on the scale needed to reverse the spread of the disease. Today, 25 years after AIDS was first diagnosed, a further 13,500 people are infected with HIV each day. One aspect of the changing nature of the disease is the increasing feminisation of HIV (the growth in the proportion of women infected).

HIV campaigns often fail to address the increased vulnerability of girls and women to infection as they do not take into account their relative lack of power to decide who they have sex with, when and how. One of the best methods for empowering girls and women to make these choices is to ensure they receive an education. However, research into whether education helps to empower girls and women to reduce HIV infection among them has had mixed results.

A study by ActionAid reviews all the evidence to date from research published between 1990 and 2006 on the impact of girls’ education on sexual behaviour and HIV. It asks what difference primary and secondary education makes to women’s vulnerability to HIV.

The research found that:

Prior to 1995, educated women were more vulnerable to HIV infection, probably as they had better economic prospects, influencing their mobility and number of sexual partners.
After 1995, highly educated girls and women were more likely to negotiate safer sex, thereby reducing their HIV infection risk.
Girls who had completed secondary school had a lower risk of HIV infection and practiced safer sex than those who had completed primary school only.
More educated adults had a positive influence on young women’s use of condoms, while more education also empowered boys and men to practice safer sex, reducing HIV infection.
However, many children, especially girls, were excluded from education as most children in Africa had to pay primary school fees.

The education of girls and women would be a large step towards turning around the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. The study made a number of policy recommendations, including:

HIV prevention campaigns must tackle gender and power dynamics in sexual relationships to help girls and boys cope with peer pressure and negative stereotyping.
The education system’s response to HIV must be prioritised, with all schools giving sexual health education focusing on HIV and promoting the use of condoms.
Schools must promote gender equality and challenge negative gender stereotyping. Sexual violence and sexual relations between teachers and girls must not be tolerated.
Primary school fees must be abolished so that more girls can get an education. However, quality of education must not suffer.

Source(s):
‘Girl Power: the Impact of Girls’ Education on HIV and Sexual Behaviour’, ActionAid International, by James Hargreaves and Tania Boler, 2006 Full document.
French version Full document.

Funded by: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

id21 Research Highlight: 3 October 2006

Further Information:
Tania Boler
ActionAid International
Hamlyn House
MacDonald Road
London N19 5PG
UK

Tel: 44 (0)20 7561 7561
Fax: +44 (0)20 7436 5389
Contact the contributor: Tania.Boler@actionaid.org

Actionaid International

James Hargreaves
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Keppel Street
London WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 7927 2955
Fax: +44 (0)20 7436 5389
Contact the contributor: James.Hargreaves@lshtm.ac.uk

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

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