Grant: Doctoral: Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships

As a result of the 1994 genocide and a wave of deaths from the HIV virus in the past decade, many households in Rwanda are now led by youth. Facing extreme poverty and a lack of protection, these households are sexually vulnerable, and therefore at risk of HIV infection. And yet, youth demonstrate resiliency, as they care for siblings and as solve their daily challenges. A social suffering approach argues that it is often the poor and weak members of a society that suffer physically from social injustices. In this view, the vulnerability of youth-headed households to HIV is strongly linked to social inequalities. This study takes a qualitative, participatory, community-based approach to examine the sexual health of youth. The daily experiences of youth in the face of sexual vulnerability will be explored as well as the social factors that influence their ability to be resilient. Finally, youth's healing strategies and their access to health and social services will be examined. A total of 70 male and female youth-heads of household aged 15-24 years from one urban and one rural area in Rwanda will participate. Methods include observation, in-depth interviews and participatory group activities with youth. Focus group discussions with community members and health and social service providers will also be done. This is an Interdisciplinary Studies Doctoral project and it will be carried out between 2011 and 2013. The data generated from this study will be communicated to health and social policy-makers in Canada and Rwanda, as it will inform decision making on programs designed to decrease HIV infection rates and improve the sexual health of youth. This study will also generate new approaches that can be used in Canada and internationally to work with young people to develop better links between health and social policy as a means to alleviate both individual and societal suffering and to reduce resultant sexual health inequities experienced by marginalized youth