Worldwide, people are being sensitized on the use of condoms. (Internet photo).

Her situation is made even more precarious by the fact that she is highly at risk of being infected with HIV, the virus that causes Aids. “I always tell my customers to use condoms, but some of them just don’t listen and force me to accept unprotected sex.”

According to Antoine Semukanya of the aids control program at CNLS, the level of knowledge of HIV is still insufficient among the general population. “Moreover, figures show that the use of condoms still remains low, especially amongst the female population, with 19.7% against 40.9% for men,” he says.

A behavioral surveillance survey conducted in 2000 among the youth aged between 15 and 19, long distance truck drivers and sex workers, showed that the minimum age of the first sexual relations is 14 years among girls and 13 years among boys.

The use of condom is of 10% among the youth who are sexually active, 74% among long-distance truck drivers and 90% among sexual workers.

According to the same data, 40% of lorry drivers had sex with a casual partner, and 35% had sex with at least three sex workers during the last twelve months. Yet the use of condom with casual partners is not systematic.

The level of systematic use of condom is 31% for those having sex with non-regular partners and 47% for those having sex with sex workers.

Although gradually female condoms are being introduced, their use still remains very limited, thus leaving the final decision for using a preservative to the men. It is one of the reasons why women are still more affected by HIV/Aids than men.

Indeed, the 2005 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) shows that whereas the overall HIV prevalence rate is 3%, the figures according to gender are 3.6% for women against 2.3% amongst men. Moreover, the study indicates that only 53.6% of women against 57.6% of men have a combined knowledge on AIDS.

It is also noteworthy that there is a huge discrepancy between urban and rural areas (in the latter, respect of traditional cultural values and social control are more strict), with 7.7% and 2.3% respectively.