Some other common and cultural forms of transmission include rape and age-mixing. Some men believe that having sex with a virgin could cure them of HIV/AIDS. Therefore, most African girls first sexual experience is coerced and lethal. Age mixing also contributes to the growth of the disease. Many young girls have sex with older men who have been sexually active for years, and thus are more likely to be infected. The young girls rely on these "sugar daddies" .
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for school fees and other expenses that are outside of their financial reach(Setel 109). In addition, a large share of sub-Saharan Africa's population is young, and therefore more likely to be sexually active. This helps explain the higher incidence of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Among those most affected by the virus are women and children. Half of all HIV infections worldwide occur in women in Africa. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, HIV infection rates among teenage women are over five times higher than rates for teenage males(Berer 5). The physical immaturity of younger women and their low status in society may contribute to disproportionate HIV infection rates. Women's lower status may prevent them from having control of their sexual relationships. For example, "studies on women's first sexual experience show that over half of young women in Malawi and over 20 percent of young women in Nigeria experienced forced sexual intercourse"(Berer 38). This is where age-mixing and rape play a major role.
According to UNAIDS, there has a been a global total of 14 million AIDS orphans since the epidemic began. Sub-Saharan Africa contained 11 million of the orphans; the .
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equivalent to the United Kingdom's entire child population(Diop 178). Not only do these children carry the emotional burden of watching a loved one suffer and die, but they also experience the trauma of the family collapsing and a severe decrease in the family's economic power.
