Sexual Practices and Attitudes of Street Youth in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Authors

Marcela Raffaelli, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Regina Campos, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Alice Payne Merritt, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
Eliana Siqueira, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Carlos Mauricio Antunes, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Richard Parker, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Marilia Greco, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Dirceu Greco, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
Neal Halsey, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
Elizabeth Bolt, The Street Youth Study Group
Mauro Lucio Jeronymo, The Street Youth Study Group
Carl Kendall, The Street Youth Study Group
Zelia Ottoni, The Street Youth Study Group
Jorge Andrade Pinto, The Street Youth Study Group
Jon Rolf, The Street Youth Study Group
Andrea Ruff, The Street Youth Study Group
Walter Ude, The Street Youth Study Group
Barbara de Zalduondo, The Street Youth Study Group

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

September 1993

Comments

Published in Social Science and Medicine 37:5 (1993), pp. 661–670. Copyright © 1993 Pergamon Press Ltd./Elsevier. Used by permission. Online @http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02779536

Abstract

Street youth are at risk of HIV infection worldwide. To develop effective prevention strategies, information about the meanings and functions of sexual activity for street youth is needed. In this paper, data from structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and field observations are used to build up a picture of the sexual culture of 9-to-18-year-olds living and/or working on the streets of a large Brazilian city. The findings reveal that these children and adolescents engage in sexual behavior that puts them at risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, and reinforce that sex is a multi-determined and entrenched behavior in this population. Interventions must take into account the fact that for street youth, sex is used as a means of ensuring survival, seeking comfort, finding pleasure, and dealing with psychological issues that arise during adolescence.