The New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society (NHVMAS) has called on  all stakeholders in Nigeria engaged with family planning, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and HIV and AIDS response to join forces to press for change in the way adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health and right is managed.

Commemorating the International Women’s Day

NHVMAS amplify the #MeToo campaign against all forms of sexual harassment and sexual violence against women and female adolescents.

According to a statement by NHVMAS ,”we  are aware that female adolescents are disproportionately affected by many forms of sexual harassment and sexual violence including forced sexual initiation.

The result of a study conducted in Nigeria showed that as high as 31.4% of sexually active females adolescents had experienced forced sexual initiation. “

” Another study highlighted that 22% of cases of forced sexual initiation occur before the age of 13 years .Sadly, those adolescents who were HIV positive were more likely to have experienced forced sexual initiation when compared with adolescents who were HIV negative. Rape, is a risk factor for HIV infection in Nigeria.”

Also, adolescents in Nigeria with a history of forced sex initiation were more likely to engage in unprotected anal sex and in transactional sex They also were more likely to adopt mental and emotional avoidance strategies and religion to cope with the stress of rape due to negative labelling and stigma of rape survivors.

Ongoing studies on biomedical HIV prevention tools for use in adolescents are also not encouraging. Adherence to use of HIV prevention tools – including the use of male and female condoms, Pre-exposure prophylaxis, and the vaginal ring that prevents sexual transmission of HIV infection through the vagina – has been poor for adolescents for many reasons. This does not preclude the need for these tools by adolescents. Adolescents are a lot more concerned about pregnancy than HIV. Yet, the risk of rape increases their risk for both pregnancy and HIV infection.

NHVMAS CALL FOR ACTION

1. Public and private institutions/organisations in the Nigeria – including schools and offices – should develop and make public its zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment. Such policies should create an open platform or the reporting of harassments and abuse of authority or unethical behavior in these institutions/organisations.

2. The National Agency for the Control of AIDS in Nigeria should officially recognize rape as a risk factor for HIV infection in females in Nigeria. Structural prevention and treatment interventions to address the growing menace of rape is needed as an integral component of the HIV and AIDS response for adolescents in Nigeria

3. Adolescent friendly centres should include rape prevention strategies in their training programmes for all adolescents. These strategies should not exclude the provision of safe spaces for the provision of abortion for girls (many girls become pregnant from rape). We therefore denounce the global gag rule that pushes to silence organisations that provide abortion counselling or referrals, advocates to decriminalize abortion or expand abortion services to address the needs of adolescents.

4. We also ask for continued global investment in research and development of multipurpose technologies that reduces the risk of female adolescents to pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection and HIV infection.