Abstinence
I’m ending AIDS by
not having sex
Abstinence means not having any sex at all, and it is the only way to ensure complete freedom from HIV risk. The longer you wait to have sex, the fewer sexual partners you’re likely to have in your lifetime which lowers your chances of having sex with someone who has HIV or another STI.
People are abstinent on and off for a variety of different reasons, and these reasons may change over time. A few people are abstinent for their whole lives. You can choose to be abstinent whenever you want, even if you’ve had sex before.
Why is delaying
sex important?
In Zambia, young women are at a much higher risk of HIV than young men. The HIV prevalence among young women aged 20 to 24 is twice as high as among men of the same age. Abstinence could reduce this huge peak in HIV incidence amongst young women in their late teens, resulting in a much lower HIV prevalence in the general population.
