May 19 is National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and World Hepatitis Day. This blog post is one of a series on the impact of HIV and Hepatitis B in Asian & Pacific Islander communities. As A&PIs, you may not believe that you are at risk for these diseases, but you are. Follow our posts throughout the week for different perspectives and stories from our community.

As other postings from this blog series have highlighted, the demographic of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is evolving. Now, people of color are disproportionately affected, rates among Asians, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders are quickly increasing, and women are severely impacted. There is one demographic that is also being hit hard by HIV/AIDS and that is our youth – I am talkin’ 13 year olds to 25 year olds in particular. Many scratch their head, and say “but they are just kids! How can they be getting HIV?” Your kids are having sex and this is manifesting itself in some staggering national data, especially for Asians and Pacific Islanders.

Based on a 2008 Kaiser Family Foundation report, about half (48%) of all high school students reported having sexual intercourse. Breaking it down further, approximately 1 in 10 males and females ages 15 to 19 have had anal sex with someone of the opposite sex. In addition, 1 in 10 high school students reported dating violence including physical coercion. This data is general national data – it does not highlight the differences between regions of the nation and local trends.

HIV/AIDS data reveals that in 2006 youth between the ages of 13 and 29 made up 34% of new HIV infections – the highest rate for new infections based on age. Gay men and women bear the brunt of this. From 2001 to 2006 the largest proportionate increase in HIV/AIDS diagnosis rates was among A&PI men who have sex with men between the ages of 13 and 24 – the rate is 255.6%! In 2004, HIV infection was the leading cause of death for African American women aged 25 to 34 years. For Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women, there is simply not any substantial current data; in 2001 the infection rate through heterosexual sex was 42%.

The purpose of me throwing all these statistics at you is to debunk the insulated view that our youth are not having sex. Our youth are having sex and this is manifesting itself in HIV/AIDS cases. Sex and sexuality is a taboo and stigmatized topic for A&PIs be it between parents and children, partners, and peers. Cultural gaps and gaps between immigrant parents and the 1^st generation can affect communication. Growing up in a this cultural milieu, it is one thing to be sexually active and openly discuss this within the family, then it is another to be out of the closet to your family, and if you have HIV it is another level of telling your family about your status. Since there is so much silence about sex and sexuality, youth discover and understand how to have sex on their own. A huge factor at play is self-confidence and self-love. It is a common story amongst the young women and men I have talked with to look for love in the bedroom. 

Our youth are being infected at younger and younger ages meaning that they will live with HIV for most of their lives. Something is happening, something is brewing. There is a disconnect at a structural, societal, and personal level where youth are falling through the cracks. A start to discover this disconnect would be to get better local, state, and national data especially for Asians, Native Hawaiians, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Another easy to implement and free solution is for all of us as individuals to connect with our friends, family, and partners about sex and sexuality. It can be a 3 hour discussion or a passing comment – the more we talk about what is going on, the better the ideas we can generate to prevent HIV infections amongst our youth.