Paradox of Risk: Intersection of Disability, Sexuality and HIV/AIDS

In this book I describe a paradox of risk through the eyes of young people with physical disabilities in a South African, Nyanga Township. This is against the background that minority sections of society appear to have been left out of national and global efforts to contain the HIV and AIDS pandemic. There is an erroneous assumption that young people with physical disabilities do not experience challenges in expressing sexuality and accessing HIV/AIDS prevention services, to the same extent the blind and those with intellectual disabilities do. Hence, it was important to explore disabled young people’s own understanding of risk and the factors that hinder or support their participation in existing sexuality education and HIV/AIDS prevention programmes. The results indicate a complex interplay of contextual factors - cultural beliefs and poverty and individual factors - sexual behaviour and attitude towards HIV risk. These combine to create situations of risk for disabled young people. Thus, the paradox of risk lies in the contradictions between beliefs that disabled young people are asexual and society targeting this very population for sexual favours, exploitation and rape.