Addressing Gender and Cultural Issues in HIV Prevention Among Young People in Dominica & St Lucia (Project)
The ultimate goal of the project was to more effectively address the prevalence of HIV pandemic in the OECS region and more specifically the gender dimensions which is currently only minimally integrated in policies and programmes.
More specifically, the project sought to:
- Strengthen the capacity of youth in organizations to develop programmes that promote HIV risk-free behaviours;
- Empower young people, especially young women and girls, to claim and practice their sexual and reproductive rights to ensure safe sexual behaviour and practices
- Increase the ability of girls and boys, women and men to assert themselves within relationships and to negotiate safe sex.
The project focus was policy oriented research utilizing ethnographic methodology which would result in the development of response strategies to HIV/AIDS at country level. The employed method provided a supportive and youth friendly environment that facilitated open dialogue on sexuality, reproductive health, gender dynamics and HIV/AIDS. In so doing the research project sought to promote positive change in the gendered perceptions and attitudes of the youth populations towards interpersonal relations, reproductive health and rights.