Hearing Their Voices: A qualitative research study on HIV testing and higher risk teens in the United States of America

This report presents the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of higher risk teenagers toward HIV testing in intimate and often poignant detail. As teens describe their fears and painful transgressions relating to sexual experiences with others, we are provided with considerable insight into the lives of inner-city youth and the challenges they face as they move from childhood to adulthood. This research discovered troubling attitudes among teenagers towards condom use. Most teens we interviewed admitted having had unprotected sex, including some of those who were sex workers, IV drug users, or who have a parent or sibling who is HIV-positive, or a relative who has died from AIDS.