Alcohol, sex and violence: a dangerous cocktail that makes young women vulnerable to HIV HIV prevalence among girls and women in this age group is roughly double that of their male peers. Health 16 min ago

This pathway helps explain why alcohol use among adolescent girls and young women cannot be separated from transactional sex, coercion and violence in high HIV-burden settings.

Our recent research sought to explore the intersection between alcohol use, HIV risk and HIV acquisition among adolescent girls and young women living in high HIV-burdened communities in South Africa.

If alcohol increases HIV risk gradually through exposure to sexual violence and condomless sex as a result of transactional or age-disparate relationships, that effect may not appear as a simple one-to-one association in cross-sectional data.