Highlighting Marital HIV Risk and Promoting Premarital Voluntary Counseling and Testing in Nyanza
The Population Council mounted a large-scale educational campaign in Nyanza on the dangers of early marriage, establishing clubs for married girls, and promoting voluntary counseling and testing among newly married couples or those contemplating marriage.
Nyanza Province in Western Kenya has the highest rates of HIV in the country: 18 percent of women and 12 percent of men are infected with the virus. Child marriage is also relatively common in Nyanza: One-third of women aged 20–24 are married by age 18. The high prevalence of HIV combined with early marriage may render child brides particularly vulnerable to infection. Indeed, a study in Kisumu (the capital of Nyanza) found strikingly high HIV prevalence rates among married girls (33 percent) compared to rates among unmarried sexually active girls (22 percent) (abstract).
In collaboration with local partners and PATH, the Population Council mounted a large-scale educational campaign in Nyanza on the dangers of early marriage, establishing clubs for married girls, and promoted voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV among newly married couples or those contemplating marriage.
Few rural people in Kenya have access to television, but an estimated 70 percent of Nyanza households own radios. Because of this, radio is considered an excellent medium to reach a large segment of the population. Radio Ramogi and Radio Victoria, two of the province’s most popular local-language radio stations, are providing public service announcements about child marriage and promoting later, safer marriage as well as VCT for couples before marriage.
The Council also reached out to religious leaders in the community, equipping them with information to speak out about child marriage, and encouraging them to raise this topic in their congregations.
Addressing sexual violence and HIV risk among married adolescent girls in rural Nyanza, Kenya (PDF)
Undie,Chi-Chi
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 19)
Publication date: 2011
Les programmes de lutte contre le mariage des enfants : cerner le problème (PDF)
Amin,Sajeda
Promouvoir la santé, la sécurité et la productivité transitions vers l'âge adulte Bulletin (N 14)
Publication date: 2011
Programs to address child marriage: Framing the problem (PDF)
Amin,Sajeda
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 14)
Publication date: 2011
Supporting married girls: Calling attention to a neglected group (PDF)
Santhya,K.G.; Erulkar,Annabel S.
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 3)
Publication date: 2011
Feasibility, acceptability, effect, and cost of integrating counseling and testing for HIV within family planning services in Kenya (PDF)
Liambila,Wilson; Warren,Charlotte; Mullick,Saiqa; Askew,Ian; Homan,Rick; Mohammed,Ibrahim; Ayisi,Robert; Gitau,Margaret; Kibaru,Josephine; Gathitu,Mary; Maua,Judith; Jilo,Helton; Mwangi,Juma; Njoroge,John; Wanyoro,Anthony K.; Njuguna,Peter Mohammed; Mboche,Andrew
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2008
Highlighting marital HIV risk and promoting premarital VCT in Nyanza Province, Kenya (PDF)
Ochieng,Ben; Erulkar,Annabel S.
FRONTIERS Final Report
Publication date: 2008
Kenya and Ethiopia: Community and religious leaders are effective advocates for HIV testing for young couples (PDF)
FRONTIERS OR Summary (no. 80)
Publication date: 2008
Casamento infantil no contexto da epidemia do VIH (PDF)
Bruce,Judith
Promover transições para a idade adulta saudáveis, seguras e produtivas Sumário (N 11)
Publication date: 2007
Child marriage in the context of the HIV epidemic (PDF)
Bruce,Judith
Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief (no. 11)
Publication date: 2007
Trends in the timing of first marriage among men and women in the developing world
Mensch,Barbara S.; Singh,Susheela; Casterline,John B.; Lloyd,Cynthia B.; Behrman,Jere R.; Stromquist,Nelly P.; Cohen,Barney
from The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries: Selected Studies, pp. 118-171
Publication date: 2005
Trends in the timing of first marriage among men and women in the developing world (PDF)
Mensch,Barbara S.; Singh,Susheela; Casterline,John B.
Policy Research Division Working Paper (no. 202)
Publication date: 2005
A world apart: The disadvantage and social isolation of married adolescent girls (PDF)
Haberland,Nicole; Chong,Erica; Bracken,Hillary J.
Brief based on background paper prepared for the WHO/UNFPA/Population Council Technical Consultation on Married Adolescents
Publication date: 2004
Why do young women have a much higher prevalence of HIV than young men? A study in Kisumu, Kenya and Ndola, Zambia (abstract) (PDF)
Glynn,J.R.; Carael,Michel; Auvert,Bertran; Kahindo,Maina; Chege,Jane; Musonda,R.; Kaona,Frederick A.D.; Buve,Anne
AIDS 15(suppl 4): S51-S60
Publication date: 2001
Project Stats
Location: Kenya (Nyanza Province)
Program(s):
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
Topic(s):
Adolescence/transitions to adulthood
Child marriage
HIV and children
Duration: 6/2005 - 3/2008
Population Council researchers:
Annabel Erulkar
Bentinck Ochieng
Non-Council collaborators:
Kendu Adventist Hospital Home-Based Care Program
Radio Victoria
Ramogi FM Radio
Rikka Trangsrud (PATH Kenya)
UZIMA Foundation
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