Out of School Youth & HIV/AIDS Perceptions - Suriname

Fifteen focus group discussions were conducted in eight different sites across Suriname.

Youth, HIV/AIDS.

In the age group 15-44, AIDS is the second highest cause of death and in 2000, 12.5% of new cases of HIV infection in Suriname occurred in people under the age of 20 years. Many HIV/AIDS related interventions targeting youth in Suriname have focused on school-going youth by integrating sex education into the teaching curriculum. Some HIV/AIDS prevention strategies have the potential to reach out-of-school youth, such as street theatre and radio television programmes. However those who are most in need still remain under-served compared to their in-school counterparts.
A total of 133 youth, 70 boys and 63 girls, participated in the 15 focus group discussions. On the positive side, many participants realized that everyone is vulnerable to contracting AIDS. Knowledge of condoms as a means of prevention was encouragingly widespread. The main obstacle to the use of condoms appears to be the negative meanings (mistrust, admission of illness) that are attached to condom use. On the negative side, AIDS seems to have taken the shape of an ill-defined, terrifying evil looming in the minds of many youth. Several sexual behaviours that increase the risk of spreading HIV/AIDS were also mentioned including multiple sexual partners, sex with commercial sex workers, drying and tightening of the vagina, the use of bugru (small metal balls which are inserted under the foreskin of the penis) or horsehair and elastic bands which are tied around the penis to increase pleasure, and sex while intoxicated. There was common perception that boys generally have several sexual partners, and often have encounters with commercial sex workers. Common behaviours and perceptions that increase girls' risks included the lack of negotiating power women hold in sexual relationships, which tends to leave them more vulnerable to infection, and prevents them from forcing men to use a condom.
The study clearly indicated the need for HIV/AIDS prevention programs to reach out-of-school youth. Accurate and complete information using appropriate media such as films or social marketing were identified as possible solutions to reverse the negative trends identified.