Early Marriage and HIV Risks in Sub‐Saharan Africa
Abstract
This article examines the effects of girls' early marriage on their risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS. By comparing several underlying HIV risk factors, it explores the counterintuitive finding that married adolescent girls in urban centers in Kenya and Zambia have higher rates of HIV infection than do sexually active unmarried girls. In both countries, we find that early marriage increases coital frequency, decreases condom use, and virtually eliminates girls' ability to abstain from sex. Moreover, husbands of married girls are about three times more likely to be HIV‐positive than are boyfriends of single girls. Although married girls are less likely than single girls to have multiple partners, this protective behavior may be outweighed by their greater exposure via unprotected sex with partners who have higher rates of infection. These results challenge commonly held assumptions about sex within marriage.
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Young married women have infected partners more than their unmarried counterparts.
“Young married women are more likely to be sexually active, engage in frequent unprotected sex, and have infected partners, relative to their unmarried counterparts ( Clark 2004 ) .”
From Legal Origins and Female HIV (2018) · cites this paper as Clark 2004
Young married women are more likely to be sexually active than their unmarried counterparts.
“Young married women are more likely to be sexually active, engage in frequent unprotected sex, and have infected partners, relative to their unmarried counterparts ( Clark 2004 ) .”
From Legal Origins and Female HIV (2018) · cites this paper as Clark 2004
Young married women engage in frequent unprotected sex more than their unmarried counterparts.
“Young married women are more likely to be sexually active, engage in frequent unprotected sex, and have infected partners, relative to their unmarried counterparts ( Clark 2004 ) .”
From Legal Origins and Female HIV (2018) · cites this paper as Clark 2004
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- Authors
- Clark, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Chicago (US)
- Corresponding author
- Clark, Shelley
- ORCID
- Clark, Shelley
- Venue
- Studies in Family Planning
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2004-08-31
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 149-160
- ISSN
- 0039-3665 (ISSN-L)
- 1728-4465
- OpenAlex
- W2151225255
- Cited by
- 427
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 25 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 39.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Studies in Family Planning (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Marriage and Family Dynamics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions
- Keywords
- early marriage, adolescent girls, HIV/AIDS risk, sexual behavior, condom use, sexual frequency, sexual abstinence, multiple sexual partners, urban youth, Kenya, Zambia
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Cities, Female, Humans, Kenya, Male, Marriage, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Sexual Behavior, Socioeconomic Factors, Zambia, HIV Infections, Multivariate Analysis, Marital Status, Africa South of the Sahara
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