MOZAMBIQUE: Love, or the next best thing, for sale

Maputo, 13 October 2008 (PlusNews) - When classes finish at Francisco Manyanga Secondary School in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, most teachers and students head for the bus while others walk home. Júlia*, 16, a 10th-grade student, gets into a luxury car, where a man who looks to be in his 40s waits for her. The man is not her father, but her boyfriend, Lucas*.

It began one rainy day in March when he offered her a ride to school; soon they were dating. At the beginning of their relationship they used condoms, but not anymore. Júlia has never taken an HIV test, but believes she is negative.

Lucas, only three years younger than Júlia's father, buys her clothes, tops up her cell phone account, and gives her a monthly allowance. These benefits, more than the relationship itself, are what keep her by his side.

"My boyfriend is 42, but a younger man my age wouldn't give me what he does and I need these things to live," said Júlia. "My friends disapprove of my going out with an older man, but what am I supposed to do?"

Júlia dreams of studying law at university and eventually earning her own money, but until this happens she pays her expenses with the allowance Lucas gives her because her parents are unable to help her.

Irresistible appeal

Most inter-generational relationships in Mozambique involve an older man and a teenage girl, said Marcelo Kantu, a programme official and activist from the reproductive health non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mozambican Association for Family Development (known by the Portuguese-language acronym AMODEFA).

"Mostly these cases occur in situations in which the man, who is much older and generally has money, convinces the girl to get involved with him and then sets the rules of the game - in these situations the girls are always dependent," he said. These teenagers, called "catorzinhas" ("little fourteens" in Portuguese), succumb to the almost irresistible attraction of economic power.

I'm not infected because I take the test regularly. Since my girl is still very young I've ruled out the possibility that she could already be HIV positive. That's why we don't use condoms

Purchasing power is what Pedro Muchanga, 50, a married father of four children, used to win over his 17-year-old girlfriend, whom he meets in secret because he does not have the courage to walk around holding hands with someone young enough to be his daughter. "I prefer to be with her in places that aren't very public; that way not too many people will see us," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

As to whether he uses condoms, Muchanga said: "I'm not infected because I take the test regularly. Since my girl is still very young I've ruled out the possibility that she could already be HIV positive. That's why we don't use condoms."

Health experts have warned that this kind of thinking is what makes HIV one of the main risks of intergenerational relationships in Mozambique, where 16.2 percent of the nearly 20 million people are infected.

According to the 2003 Demographic and Health survey, the average age of a Mozambican's first sexual encounter is 16, but the teenagers have little information about dealing with their sexuality or protecting themselves from pregnancy and HIV. Many practice unprotected sex, unaware of the possible risks.

Most catorzinhas lack information as well as the power to negotiate safer sex with their older partners, and are at greater risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and an unwanted pregnancy.

"Generally the men are married and don't want to admit they're the fathers. They opt for illegal abortions, which most of the time are carried out without any safety, and this puts the girl's health at risk.

Where was your daughter?

The catorzinha phenomenon is so common in Mozambique that there are now specific campaigns to make this group aware of the risks of intergenerational relationships.

The Foundation for Community Development, among others, is targeting older men in a television ad campaign with the theme, "Where was your daughter while you were with someone else's?"

Where was your daughter while you were with someone else's?

AMODEFA has been developing campaigns on sexual and reproductive health for teenagers likely to become involved in, or already part of, an inter-generational relationship.

The initiative is part of the Geração Biz Programme, supported by the United Nations Population Fund, and includes discussions in schools with young people between 10 and 24 years of age, and staging plays and dance performances in communities.

Working with the girls isn't easy; in many cases, more than the material benefits attracts them. Psychologist Filza Cassam said many girls felt superior when they were in relationships with older men, and "there are girls who get involved with older people in search of affection their parents couldn't give them."

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*Not their real names

Theme (s): Children, HIV/AIDS (PlusNews),

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]