Compassionate Conservatism, Their Black Asses
Guess what? Not only do abstinence-based sex ed programs--which include programs that emphasize abstinence but do teach about other methods for preventing STDs and pregnancy as well as those that teach "abstinence only"--not keep kids from having sex or getting pregnant. They also don't keep kids from getting AIDS. Not even as compared to kids getting no sex education at all.
And yet the Bush administration's quite proud of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief--which requires that 1/3rd of all money spent on AIDS prevent encourage abstinence. Though according to Rolling Stone,
In its first year, PEPFAR spent more than half of the $92 million earmarked to prevent sexual transmission on promoting abstinence programs.
Even though
sexual abstinence only programmes for prevention of HIV infection do not decrease or exacerbate sexual risk. . . .
The trial results also suggest that abstinence only programmes do not effectively encourage abstinent behaviour but instead are ineffective for preventing or decreasing sexual activity among most participants.
The most recent study
was designed to identify programme trials measuring any (my emphasis) biological, behavioural, cognitive, attitudinal, or other outcome, not just HIV incidence. . . .
Outcome? You might as well buy everyone a cable subscription and let them stay home, for all the difference these programs made.
Seven trials assessed participants' reports of having been diagnosed as having a sexually transmitted infection by a doctor or nurse. Every trial compared an abstinence only programme with usual care by schools or community centres. No trial found a significant short term or long term benefit, and one trial found significant adverse effects of the adult led programme. . .
If you think that sucks for us Americans, think of how much worse it's gotta be for the international "beneficiaries" of Bush's largesse--given that, again quoting Rolling Stone,
the reality facing young women and girls in Africa and other impoverished regions, who are often infected by wandering husbands or forced to have sex in exchange for food or shelter. Among fifteen- to twenty-four-year-olds in sub-Saharan Africa, studies show, more than three times as many young women are infected with HIV as young men.
Of course, hey. If they get AIDS, there's drugs for that now. Right?
Study here; short summary here.
If you want to do something to counteract the damage, you can start here.
Bitch_PhD thanks DeadRat for the link to the study.
Gang of Rapists Terrorize the Netherlands With HIV
As if conservative America didnt already view the Netherlands as a lair of sin and depravity, along comes a story that can only be described as an abomination of inhumanity... there aren't enough adjectives to describe how fucking sick this is. According to ABC News Online, a gang of Dutch men have been accused of luring gay men to orgies where the victims were then drugged, raped, and injected with their own HIV-infected blood.
After four victims came forward to Dutch police, the gang -- consisting of three HIV-positive gay men -- was arrested along with a fourth scumfuck who supplied them with large amounts of GHB and Ecstasy to aid in the rapes. Mr. Ronald Zwarter, the police chief of Groningen, where the rapes allegedly occurred, said:
(Their) stated motive was that it excited them and also that, the more HIV-infected people there are, the better their chances of unprotected sex. They considered unprotected relations to be 'pure.
Since the arrests were made, eight more victims have come forward. Numerous public figures in the Netherlands have spoken out against the crimes:
Health Minister Ab Klink on Thursday called the case "horrible", as the press splashed the news across its front pages.
...
"That homos [sic] organize orgies is nothing new, but this is something else. This is unimaginable," said Frank van Dalen, the president of a gay rights group called COC.
...
Said Henk Krol, the editor of a homosexual magazine titled Gaykrant: "These people were drugged, it's therefore rape, pure and simple. It's shameful, disgusting and terrifying. Those who did this are crazy."
Normally this is the point in a story where Id crack a joke, or post a zany YouTube clip, but there's nothing here to laugh at. I hate condoms as much as the next guy, but they've become a necessary part of life; as much as I typically advocate sexual freedom in all its splendor, theres just no excuse here, none whatsoever. This casual disregard for human life is just so inhumanly narcissistic and cruel. That this has happened at all is simply terrifying, like some real life twist taken from Hostel or Saw, only far, far worse.
Osbourne Family Member HIV Positive: Kelly in Tears
A tearful Kelly Osbourne shocked audience members at a London HIV/AIDS benefit last night when she announced that one of her family members had recently tested positive for HIV. The charity event drama went down at Camden's Koko club where the 22-year-old singer/reality star broke the tragic news before introducing a performance by the band Scissor Sisters.
Refusing to specify which relative she was referring to, Osbourne said only that the diagnosis had made the cause close to her heart.
Kelly was seen sobbing as she exited the stage. The rest of the Osbourne clan has yet to make an official statement.