Addressing sexual violence and HIV risk among married adolescent girls in rural Nyanza, Kenya

HIV infection is much higher among adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa than among boys. In settings such as Nyanza Province, Kenya, rates of HIV infection are extremely high, and evidence is increasing in some settings that girls who are married are much more likely to be infected with HIV, compared with their unmarried sexually active counterparts. This brief describes a program addressing the problem of sexual violence and the risk of HIV transmission within marriage in Kenya's Nyanza Province. The program was based on the Population Council's analysis of the 2003 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) as well as on formative research within rural Nyanza.