Greetings Sisters:
You all have probably heard about the recent CDC (Center for Disease Control) study on Teen Girls and Sex which states that 1 in 4 teen girls between ages 14-19 have an STD (most likely HPV and chlamydia); and of this representative group, nearly half (48%) of Black teen girls is estimated to have an STD.
See http://www.cdc.gov/stdconference/2008/media/release-11march2008.pdf .
When I read this, I was astounded as the percentage seems quite high. I do not believe, based on my life experience and observations, that Black teen girls are having MORE SEX than white and latino girls, but I do believe that our girls may be having MORE UNPROTECTED SEX as well as sex with young men who have multiple partners.
I also learned from a publisher, Ben Bosa, whose wife Ngozi Osuagwu, is an OB/GYN and author of Letter to My Sisters: Plain Truths and Straightfoward Advice From a Gynecologist, that many of our teen girls may have higher rates of infection, including HIV, due to their contact with young men/grown men who have cycled through the prison industry, engaged in homosexual sex, and therefore leave the young women infected. This is a tough allegation to envision but there may be some truth here. In my prior work with teen girls, it was in fact true that many were engaged in relationships with adult men and previously incarcerated men/young adult men.
What do you think?
This subject--including the specific controversial issue of the HPV Vaccine, which the government of Washington, DC is trying to require/mandate for all teen girls, deserves our attention and engagement.
In gist, many of our teen girls ARE HAVING SEX whether we like it or not and whether mothers and fathers and clergymen want to hear this or not.
The question is, what do we do now?
I would love your responses to this question as I craft an article that will highlight this very issue in an upcoming issue of SisterSpeak Online Magazine.
look forward to your replies.
Lisa
SisterSpeak Online Magazine
www.sisterspeakonline.com/index.asp
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