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Deevia Bhana explores young women’s expressions of sexuality in post-apartheid South Africa, in a township context marked by historical inequalities, violence and vulnerability to HIV. Bhana shows that whilst the women’s understandings of sexuality are not entirely centred on poverty, violence and disease, their perspectives are nevertheless embedded in social and economic relations of power. …

In the context of HIV/AIDS, youth have become central to contemporary South African social thought and educational policy concerns regarding changing behaviour, addressing gender inequalities, safe sex and preventing the spread of the disease. Yet we know very little about how youth in specific social contexts give meaning to gender and sexuality. Greater understanding of these processes would appear vital to successful educational strategies in the protection against HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Deevia Bhana and Rob Pattman argue that the lives and identities of young men and women must be central in any initiative to change behaviour. …

A key strategy in the fight against HIV/AIDS is to safeguard the rights of those who are infected and at risk of infection. However, because of the association with sexuality, the rights of young children are not often addressed. Instead, children are represented as innocent and ignorant of sexuality and HIV/AIDS. This article challenges that representation, based on a study of 7 and 8-year-olds in a black township in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. …