Local Youth Takes Action and Creates Solutions to Problems that Young African American Women Face

WHO:

Quanitta Favorite, Age 20, Author of HIV/AIDS and the Young African American Woman and Peer Educator, Advocates for Youth.
 

WHAT:

A new guidebook, written by a young African American woman, provides other young women with the tools they need to protect themselves from the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

"As a 19 year old peer educator, I knew that my friends and I were at risk. I knew that HIV/AIDS affects African American women more than women in any other ethnic group. But when I looked around at the resources there for us, I knew they weren't cuttin' it," said author Quanitta Favorite.

With input from other young African American women and Advocates for Youth, Favorite created HIV/AIDS and the Young African American Woman, a pamphlet that provides young women with the information they need to protect themselves. The pamphlet helps young people to identify high-risk situations and to talk with their partners about preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Specifically, the guide gives tips on talking about critical issues, including:

• Relationship expectations
• Past and Present Sexual Relationships
• Past and Present Drug Use
• Contraceptive Use
• Testing for HIV and STDs

WHEN:

The author is available immediately for interviews.
 

WHY:

African Americans now represent 36% of all reported AIDS cases and 43% of new AIDS cases, even though African Americans comprise only 13% of the U.S.