Youth, socio-economic pressure and HIV/Aids

Victoria Seiketso Sethibe | Thursday December 1, 2016 17:01

Even though anybody can get HIV/AIDS, youth are some of those who are at high risk of contracting the costly virus. Below are some of the socio-economic factors that can put youth at high risk of being infected or reinfected with HIV:

The pressure to keep up with appearances;

Although it is most teenagers’ dream to enter tertiary institution in order to get higher education that could prepare them for the world of work and business, settling into tertiary institutions can really be a stressful process. The transition from looking similar in school uniform to looking distinctively different in civilian clothes can be quite hard for those who cannot afford to look trendy, like their more privileged peers. This can be particularly true in those environments where people are harshly judged for not following certain trends.

It is usually during this period that some of those who are less privileged feel immense pressure to device some not so safe means of securing funding from those commonly referred to as 'blessers' in order to keep up with appearances, for the purpose of getting acceptance from the trend-conscious lot.  Research has shown that when a financially superior person in the form of a 'blesser' gets involved in  sexual relationship with a financially over-dependent individual, the financially advantaged person gets an upper hand in deciding whether or not to practice safer sex. For the 'blessee' or beneficiary who strongly values keeping up with appearances in order to gain conditional social acceptance from their peers, it becomes a case of classifying the high risk of being infected or reinfected with HIV as a ‘lesser devil.’ It is for this reason that adolescents and young adults need regular help regarding self-esteem, especially regarding self-image.

 

Substance abuse;

The smuggling in of substances into the country has reportedly been on the rise currently (The Patriot online, July 5 2016 & The Voice online, May 14 2016). Substance abuse promotes actions that increase the risk of infections in various ways;

A person who is too drunk or high on illicit drugs is at high risk of being raped by some random individual or a gang, without even remembering the culprit or culprits, at times. Rapists do not necessarily care about safe sex because their actions are usually based on controlling or hurting their victims, than anything else.  When a group of young people abuse substances, they put themselves at high risk of engaging in other risky actions such as sharing of needles as well as being involved in sex parties.

Substance abuse has not only proved to impair the brain’s ability to function properly, but it also interferes with the effectiveness of AIDS treatment, hence puts the patient at high risk of experiencing rapid health deterioration.

 

Human trafficking;

Currently there is an outcry on the saturation of the job market worldwide, partly because machines have taken away jobs from people. As such this has contributed to the rise of scams such as those who falsely promise vulnerable people some lucrative jobs abroad.

Desperation somewhat has a way of making even the initially sensible people lose part of their sense. So far media has been playing an important role in educating people about human trafficking. However, scams are always coming up with new ways of making their targets fall for their tricks. Victims of human trafficking fall into situations whereby they are forced into sex slavery, among other forms of abuse. Consequently, they (victims) end up being forcefully infected with HIV and other STI’s. It is therefore important for young people to exercise vigilance all the time, so that they do not fall into adverse situations that could have otherwise been prevented.