Poverty exposes women to STDs and HIV/AIDS

Poverty and high rates of unemployment levels in Zambia force an increasing number of women not to say no to sex or their demand for safe sex as they fear losing important sources of financial support, the ‘Post of Zambia’ said on Friday. The report quoted the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ) as saying that women were exchanging sex for food, housing, and cash for their survival. PPAZ director of programmes Clement Sakala told the Zambian parliament that many unemployed young women were increasingly at risk as they struggled to cope with economic pressures, thereby increasing the potential risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS. Sakala said that economic changes in Zambia have had a direct impact on the sexual and reproductive behaviour of people, with the burden falling on female adolescents and poor women who had become increasingly unable to support themselves.