Informing programming to reduce the HIV risk of transactional sex

31 March 2019
Joyce Wamoyi, Kirsten Stoebenau, Annie Holmes

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We have made substantial progress towards achieving the strategic goal for this stream of work within STRIVE:

Programmes to reduce HIV risk and empower young women in sub-Saharan Africa are informed by a clear definition of transactional sex and understanding of the multiple motivations for engaging in the practice.

Transactional sexual relationships have been shown to increase the HIV risk faced by adolescent girls and young women.Too often, however, programming to address this risk is based on simplistic and misleading definitions of the practice and of what motivates girls and young women to engage in it. Effective interventions and effective resource allocation depend on evidence-based understandings. STRIVE’s work in this arena is finding traction and application among researchers, bilateral funders, UN agencies such as UNAIDS and UNICEF, intervention designers and influential media platforms.