Social Networks as Protective Factors for Adolescent Girls in Senegal

Kristen A. Velyvis, University of Wisconsin at Madison

This study looks at whether social networks protect adolescent girls in Senegal, West Africa by limiting their sexual behavior and thus reducing their risk for HIV infection. The mechanisms of interest are social control, which restricts sexual behavior, and social support, which reduces the need to seek partners to survive. Differences in sexual behavior is one of the proposed explanations for the variation in the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. With increasing numbers of girls becoming infected with HIV in Africa, girls who can or do postpone sex have increased chances of avoiding HIV infection. This paper looks at migrant girls in Senegal who have risk factors for dangerous sexual behavior including their migration status, economic vulnerability and the work many of them do in marketplaces. This paper documents their sexual behavior and seeks to determine whether and how social support and / or social control limits sexual behavior.