A quarter of sexually active men ages 22 to 26 and 19 percent of males ages 20 to 21 report sexual intercourse with a teenage partner during the last year. A significant proportion of Latina and African-American adolescent females also report first sexual intercourse with older male partners. 19 Differing age and sexual experience may create a power imbalance that limits the ability of YWOC to negotiate safer sex. Finally, these young women may look to older sex partners for guidance about protection and receive misinformation which can negatively affect their sexual health. Many cultural barriers prevent YWOC from gaining the skills and knowledge they need to lessen their risk for HIV or other STDs.
Ethnic groups face different barriers posed by customs, religion, and history.
Among Native Americans, communication barriers complicate HIV prevention. Some terms such as HIV and AIDS do not translate easily or clearly in many Native American languages. 2 Tribes may be difficult to target with HIV prevention information due to geographic dispersal, individual languages, and differing customs. For example, the Navajo believe that talking about a disease may bring it into existence in the community. 20 Statistics may underestimate the rate of HIV infection among Native Americans.