Young People’s Ambiguous and Complex Responses on HIV/AIDS in Cameroon

Abstract

In the large cities of Cameroon, early sexual relations are a major problem for young people due to the risk of unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, in this population that has not yet mastered protection and which is ill prepared to convince often older sexual partners to use condoms. The HIV/AIDS epidemic can be analysed as an exogenous trauma that has not given rise to an immediate national response at institutional level, in spite of the pressure and priorities imposed from outside. The survey was aimed at understanding how young people build the idea of protection and risk faced with HIV, and identifying their practices and their relations with protective practices. The response of young people is over influenced by “macro” factors: perceptions of the role played by developed countries, the urban context, the effects of poverty and, lastly, gender relationships, perceptions and uses of the body, and sexuality. Thus young people find themselves in a situation between refusal and “do-it-yourself”: a total lack of protection, and small empirical and sometimes counter-productive practices. The position of young people remains ambiguous regarding HIV tests, they use condoms “circumstantially”, and finally place their trust in God.