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Youth AIDS workshop combats disease with knowledge
Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times
By Mark Barrett, STAFF WRITER
03.11.01
ASHEVILLE - Which partner in a sexual encounter should be responsible
for contraception? And how much protection do various forms of contraception
offer from sexually transmitted diseases?
Those were two of the many questions tackled by the roughly 150
people attending a workshop Saturday at Hill Street Baptist Church
to slow the spread of AIDS and the virus that causes it among minority
youth. The event, called "We Wanna Know: Ending the Silence
on HIV in Youth," preceded a worship service today.
In one discussion, HIV prevention specialist Kayla Jackson had
teen- agers stand in front of signs in different parts of the church
sanctuary reading "Agree," "Disagree," and "Don't
know," after Jackson read statements to the group.
Almost all of those in Jackson's workshop stood in front of the
"Disagree" sign when Jackson asked if a "young woman
walking alone in tight, sexy clothing is asking to be raped."
"That's just what she's wearing," not a statement of
anything else, said one participant.
"They're kind of asking for trouble," said a participant
in front of the "Agree" sign. "They'll get that second
look and maybe something more."
But Jackson, who is with the Washington, D.C., non-profit Advocates
for Youth, ended the discussion of that question this way: "A
girl can walk down the street buck naked, and if she says no, don't
touch."
Organizers said HIV affects a disproportionate number of minority
youths and young adults. Almost half of new infections nationwide
are of those ages 13 through 24. Part of the problem is people still
don't understand the problem, organizers said.
"Knowledge is power," Dr. Polly Ross, of co-sponsor Western
North Carolina Community Health Services, told participants. "We
want you to know things that will give you power."
WNCCHS, a non-profit organization in West Asheville, provides health
services to people in an 11-county region and gets about 100 new
HIV patients a year, Ross said. Of that number, 30 percent are Blacks,
even though Blacks make up less than 10 percent of the population
of the area WNCCHS serves, she said.
"This disease exists in the African-American community. It
is real," said Derrick Donald, who represented Agouron Pharmaceuticals.
People often think of AIDS as something that affects homosexuals
and drug users, but increasingly, "We see people who have good,
old- fashioned heterosexual sex ... and they acquire HIV,"
Ross said.
The event was sponsored by WNCCHS, the Baptist Ministers Union,
One Youth at a Time and the Western North Carolina AIDS Project.
A key element of the event is drawing Black churches into efforts
to fight HIV, organizers said.
"We hope that this is just the beginning of a long dialogue,"
Ross said.
A worship service for the healing of AIDS will be held at Nazareth
First Baptist Church, 146 Pine St., at 3:30 p.m. today. Charlotte-
based Rev. Carl Arrington of the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network
will speak.
Both events are being held in conjunction with the national Black
Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS.
Contact Barrett at 232-5833 or MBbarrett@CITIZEN-TimeS.com.
©2000 Asheville Citizen-Times 14 O Henry Ave., Asheville,
NC 28801, Phone (828) 252-5611
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