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Gender is a critical issue to consider when addressing youth reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. Traditional gender norms contribute to unintended pregnancy, STIs, HIV/AIDS, sexual violence and coercion, early marriage, and other harmful practices.
For females, gender norms in many cultures include submissiveness, deference to male authority, dependence, virginity until marriage, and faithfulness during marriage. Norms for men, in contrast, are built around power and control, independence, not showing emotions, risk-taking, using violence to resolve conflict, early sexual activity, and having multiple sexual partners. Such inequality limits young people's control over their sexual and reproductive lives.
Adolescence provides an opportunity for addressing gender issues and related reproductive health concerns. Many projects that address gender inequality have focused primarily on the needs of girls, but there is growing recognition of the importance of working with boys and young men to help achieve positive, long-term change. Working at changing gender norms when youth are young is a proven and cost-effective way of redressing gender inequalities and improving reproductive health and HIV/AIDS outcomes.
For more information, also see these program areas:
Recommended Resources
Tools
Girls' Success: Mentoring Guide for Life Skills (PDF, 118 pages, 8.9 MB)
This guide discusses mentoring girls to help them develop important life skills. Some of the topics covered include healthy living, inner strength, making good choices, reproductive health, and sexuality. The guide provides discussion questions about each topic and learning activities that can be conducted in mentoring sessions or when girls are in school or with their families. (Academy for Educational Development (AED) Center for Gender Equity, 2009)
Violence Against Women and Girls: A Compendium of Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators (2008, 252 pages, 843 KB). MEASURE Evaluation and a technical advisory group developed this compendium for program managers, organizations, and policy-makers who are working to address violence against women and girls at the individual, community, district/provincial, and national levels in developing countries. For more information, contact measure@unc.edu(MEASURE Evaluation, 2008)
The Gender Guide for Health Communication Programs. This guide provides a five-step approach to ensuring that communication programs incorporate gender sensitivity. It includes examples of successful programs and information about terminology. (Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs and CEDPA, 2003)
Reports and Briefs
Why Women and Girls Need an AIDS Vaccine (4 pages, 813 KB)
Women's and girls' increased biological vulnerability to HIV infection, coupled with social and economic inequities, fuel the pandemic in resource-limited nations. This information sheet addresses some of the gender norms and inequalities that impede women's ability to prevent HIV infection and makes the case for development of an AIDS vaccine as a powerful equity tool. (IAVI, 2009)
A Study on Violence against Girls: Report on the International Girl Child Conference (100 pages, 5.8 MB)
This publication summarizes the discussions and outcomes of the International Conference on Violence against the Girl Child. The conference addressed gaps in knowledge, research, and responses to violence against girls in the home, and was a follow-up to the United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children. (UNICEF Innocenti Research Center, 2009)
Promoting More Gender-equitable Norms and Behaviors Among Young Men as an HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategy
There is growing evidence that risk of acquiring HIV/STIs for both young men and young women is linked to early socialization that promotes certain gender roles as the norm. This document examines the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve young men's attitudes toward gender norms and to reduce HIV/STI risk. (Horizons, 2006)
Keeping the Promise: Five Benefits of Girls' Secondary Education
A dramatic gender gap exists in secondary schooling, with girls lacking opportunities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This report presents an up-to-date picture of the dialogue and actions being taken on investments in secondary education. (Academy for Educational Development, 2006)
Married Adolescents: No Place of Safety
This document explores issues around early marriage and outlines some promising programs in countries where early marriage and early childbirth are common. (World Health Organization, 2006)
Boys and Changing Gender Roles
A growing number of projects recognize the importance of working with boys and young men to change gender norms and at the same time affect behaviors related to reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. (Family Health International/YouthNet, 2005)
Early Marriage and Adolescent Girls
Girls at risk of child marriage and those already married experience greater disadvantages compared to unmarried girls or married young women, but most programs addressing adolescent reproductive health and HIV prevention have focused primarily on unmarried youth. (Family Health International/YouthNet, 2005)
New Horizons: Mobilizing Communities for Girls' Education in Egypt
This fact sheet describes the results of a non-formal education program designed to communicate basic life skills and reproductive health information to girls and young women between the ages of 9 and 20 in rural and urban settings. (The Centre for Development and Population Activities, 2005)
Young Men and the Construction of Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for HIV/AIDS, Conflict, and Violence
This report provides a review of literature on men and masculinities, conflict and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, and examples of programs that apply a gender perspective to work with young men. (World Bank, 2005)
New Visions: Life Skills Information for Boys
This fact sheet describes the results of a non-formal education program designed to encourage the development of important life skills and to increase gender sensitivity and reproductive health knowledge among boys and young men aged 12-20. (The Centre for Development and Population Activities, 2005)
Nonconsensual Sex among Youth
Programs need to consider patterns and consequences of coerced sex when addressing reproductive health, HIV prevention, and other needs of young people. (Family Health International/YouthNet, 2004)
Working with Young Men to Promote Sexual and Reproductive Health
This report discusses innovative and successful work to promote sexual and reproductive health among young men in developing countries. (UK Government's Department for International Development/Safe Passages, 2002)
Young Men and HIV: Culture, Poverty, and Sexual Risk
This report explains the critical role that young men play in the global AIDS pandemic. It highlights how they have been largely ignored in HIV interventions to date and explains how this exclusion could have devastating results in the long-term. It investigates the challenges young men face and looks at the most effective ways of addressing their needs. (United Nations/Panos Institute, 2001)
Boys in the Picture
This report (in English, French, Spanish, and Portugese) provides an overview of issues related to the sexual health of adolescent boys. (World Health Organization, 2000)
Working with Adolescent Boys: Programme Experiences
This document reports the results from a survey of programs that have examined the specific needs and situations of adolescent boys. The survey was conducted in Africa (primarily sub-Saharan Africa), the Americas, the eastern Mediterranean region, and Southeast Asia. (World Health Organization, 2000)
Gender Norms Affect Adolescents
In an effort to improve the reproductive health of adolescents and young adults, many organizations that work with youth are incorporating a gender perspective into sex education, service delivery, and provider training programs. (Family Health International, 1997)
Web Sites
Interagency Gender Working Group
Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG) provides tools and information on promoting gender equity within population, health, and nutrition programs worldwide. The IGWG is a network of nongovernmental organizations, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), cooperating agencies, and the Bureau for Global Health of USAID. Its goal is to foster sustainable development and improve reproductive health and HIV/AIDS outcomes.
Key questions on youth and gender
This page on Family Health International's web site addresses some basic gender-related questions, such as the differences between sex and gender and how gender inequality can affect young people's health.
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