Sexuality and Gender 417Applying Psychology to Everyday Life
The AIDS Epidemic in Russia
- 10 Explain why the number of HIV and AIDS cases in Russia is
increasing so dramatically.
While sub-Saharan Africa is still the focal point of AIDS and HIV infections for now, Russia
and several surrounding countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are quickly becom-
ing the center for a new and rapidly expanding epidemic of AIDS. Within the last decade,
the prevalence of HIV in Russia and these other areas has nearly doubled (AVERT, 2015;
UNAIDS, 2009). By 2013, nearly 1.1 million people living in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
are estimated to be infected with HIV, and both new infections and deaths have increased
rapidly. Eighty-five percent of these people live in Russia and the Ukraine (AVERT, 2015).
What accounts for this horrific rise in AIDS cases? Drug users who often share nee-
dles are one cause. With the heavy opium-producing Afghanistan nearby, drug use is
an ever-increasing problem in Russia and the surrounding region, with reports of more
than half a million registered drug users and nearly 30,000 drug-related deaths each year
(Hamers & Downs, 2003; RIA Novosti, 2010). Then there are the sex workers: prostitutes
who are not only at risk because of the nature of their work but also because of their lack
of education about the transmission of HIV and their own drug use (Baral et al., 2013;
UNAIDS, 2008). Of course, the partners of these drug users and sex workers are also at
risk. Nearly two-thirds of the infections in women are caused by heterosexual contact with
husbands or male lovers (Federal Service for Surveillance of Consumer Rights Protection
and Human Well-Being of the Russian Federation and UNAIDS, 2008).
Another group at risk are prisoners (AVERT, 2015; Dolan et al., 2007). The majority of
the inmates were infected before entering the prison. Of note—one of the smallest groups
responsible for the increase in AIDS and HIV infections is homosexual inmates (UNAIDS,
2008). Homosexuality in Russia and the surrounding areas was once punishable by death,
so it is not so surprising that there are either fewer homosexual inmates in those countries
or, at the very least, few who are willing to reveal themselves as homosexual persons.
Some researchers believe that between 2009 and 2015, Russia will experience its
greatest number of AIDS–related deaths (Feshbach, 2008). Clearly, education about HIV
and AIDS as well as a concerted effort to reduce the drug-using population, or, at the very
least, giving them the tools necessary to reduce the risk of infection, must be a priority in
the future—if there is to be one.
Questions for Further Discussion- Are there other countries around the world that you think might be the next site of an
HIV/AIDS epidemic? - How would you go about trying to educate people who do not understand how HIV is
spread?
Chapter Summary
The Physical Side of Human Sexuality
- 1 Distinguish between primary and secondary sex
characteristics.
šThe female sexual organs present at birth are the primary sex
characteristics consisting of vagina, uterus, and ovaries.
šThe primary male sex characteristics are the penis, scrotum, tes-
ticles, and prostate gland.
10. 2 Explain how sex characteristics develop.
šThe female sexual organs that develop during puberty are sec-
ondary sex characteristics consisting of the growth spurt, onset
of the menstrual cycle, breast development, widening hips,
pubic hair, fat deposits, and further growth and development of
the uterus, vagina, and ovaries.