GABORONE, Botswana— Botswana has the third highest rate of HIV in the world. One reason for this alarming trend is the prevalence of ‘Sugar Daddies’—older men who promise gifts and money in exchange for sex with young girls.
In a survey of the capital, Gaborone, 600 girls aged 18 and older were asked if men at least 10 years older had ever offered them money for sex. It discovered that 40 percent of those girls had been. Although many explained that they had refused any propositions, the survey found that 1 in 3 sexually active girls were in a relationship with an older man.
Noam Angrist is hoping to slow the spread of HIV. Angrist founded Young 1ove in 2013. “I thought, ‘This is my chance to turn research into action.’” An MIT graduate visited Botswana on a Fulbright Scholarship with no intention of teaching sex education. He was, however, quite familiar with the term ‘sugar daddy.’
In college, Angrist read a study by Stanford University economist Pascaline Dupas involving sex education in Kenya. From 2003 to 2005, girls in school were taught that older men have higher rates of HIV than younger men. After one year, girls in the study were 28 percent less likely to be pregnant. The likelihood of being pregnant with an older man’s child dropped 61 percent.
Through one hour classes in Botswanan schools, Young 1ove works to educate kids about HIV and safe sex and disprove misconceptions. Program leaders first ask students who has the highest prevalence of HIV before revealing actual numbers.
“At 35 to 38, HIV gets lower because your hormones are wearing out,” believes one student. “By 40 to 44, you’re getting old and not sexually active.” The reality is, 43 percent of men age 40 and older in Botswanna are HIV positive—about 10X the amount of HIV-positive men in their teens and early 20s. The program explains to kids that once you develop HIV, you have it for life.
As a part of a Ph.D. dissertation, Josephine Nkosana completed a study that found that 79 percent of girls involved with older men do so to gain money and gifts. Moitshepi Matsheng is a co-founded of the organization and explains, “When I was a student, it was considered cool to date an older person, and the coolness came out of what you received.”
Unfortunately, HIV and unwanted pregnancies are some of those ‘gifts.’ The belief that ‘older lovers are safer lovers’ needs to be eradicated. Angrist is pleased to report that Young 1ove is doing just that. With programs in 358 schools reaching 32,010 students, teenage pregnancy is estimated to have fallen by 28 percent since the organization started.
Young 1ove has been evaluated by poverty-reducing organizations like the Jameel Poverty Action Lab, Innovations for Poverty Action, and Evidence Action. The executive director of Evidence Action, Alix Zwane, is impressed. “If we could see a 1/3 reduction in teen pregnancies, it could be really transformative for the next generation of girls in Botswana.”
It could mean more girls finishing school and marrying later, as well as less cases of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Angrist wants to spread the program to 1 million girls in South Africa by 2017.
– Lillian Sickler
Sources: NPR, Young 1ove, Idealist
Photo: Flickr