Open Access in JAH
Adolescent Mothers in Eastern and Southern Africa: An Overlooked and Uniquely Vulnerable Subpopulation in the Fight Against HIV
Adolescent girls (10–19 years) in Eastern and Southern Africa face a high risk of pregnancy and HIV infection. However, few studies have examined whether the profound developmental, social, and economic changes that accompany adolescent motherhood contribute to HIV risk. This study examines the intersection between adolescent motherhood and HIV infection across 10 Eastern and Southern African countries, where over half of all HIV infections occur among adolescent girls.Understanding the Relationships Between HIV and Child Marriage: Conclusions From an Expert Consultation
Research on child marriage from the first decade of the 2000s was largely, and we now know, often mistakenly, interpreted to suggest that child brides—girls who marry under the age of 18 years—faced a higher vulnerability to and higher rates of HIV acquisition than girls and women who married later [1–4]. In one of the starkest statements on the perceived connection, a paper stemming from a December 2003 global consultation stated that “married adolescent girls tend to have higher rates of HIV infection than their sexually active, unmarried peers” [5].
