Background Young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Background Young people in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are profoundly affected by violence, high unemployment, and economic hardship. Qualitative analysis was used to code detailed notes of focus organizations and interviews. Results Based on participants reports, different types of sexual activity outside marriage were not uncommon, even in conservative communities. Probably the most reported sexual activity was non-penetrative sex: oral and anal intercourse, and virtual sex. Some young people had sexual intercourse with sex workers; they went to brothels in Israel and to brothels operating clandestinely in the Western Standard bank, including East Jerusalem. Most respondents were of the opinion that young people did not usually use safety during sexual intercourse. Many reported that youth engage in different types of sexual activity outside marriage for a number of reasons: to challenge the culture, monetary constraints and failure to marry, basic human need, personal enjoyment, suppression, to destroy boredom, and to demonstrate manhood. Conclusions In contrast with the conservative sociable context of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), the findings suggest that sexual activities outside marriage may be more common than is currently assumed. Sexual behavior in the oPt is definitely a concern because of the low awareness of the potential health consequences. The results draw attention to the need to include sexual reproductive health into the national agenda and ensure that it is included in the programs of national institutions. Keywords: Palestine, Youth, Sex, Behaviors, HIV Background In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, there has been a steady increase in incidences of unintended teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV infections, and gender centered sexual violence [1]. After Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the MENA region has the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemic Rasagiline IC50 in the world, albeit from a very low foundation [2]. Available data reveal that STIs and HIV infections are more common among young people aged 15-29 years than among additional age groups [3]. For these reasons, there is concern both that broader epidemics may quickly emerge in MENA countries, and that youth are especially at risk of HIV and additional sexually transmitted diseases [4, 5]. In addition, sex education in the MENA region is definitely uncommon and is a controversial issue circumscribed by political, economic, social, and religious factors [3]. Societal taboos are major hurdles to educated discussions about sexual and reproductive health issues, particularly in relation to young people [3]. Very little is known about existing health risk behaviours among youth (or others) in the region, reflecting sociable strictures in dealing with sensitive issues of sexual behavior, alongside the related understanding on the part of some governments that HIV/AIDS will never become a severe problem in their countries. Palestinian youth are profoundly affected by the Israeli profession in a multitude of ways, including high unemployment and economic hardship, frequent humiliation or harassment, restrictions on movement, and long term Rps6kb1 exposure to violence at individual, family, and community level. Evidence from additional contexts suggests that experiences of community-level violence and personal stress increase the probability that young people will engage in risk behaviors, including unsafe sex or multiple partners, smoking and drug use [6, 7]. Despite the restrictions on travel between the Territories and Israel (and East Jerusalem), about 110,300 Palestinians from your West Bank continue to work in Israel and in Israeli settlements, while many thousands more are thought to enter illegally for work [8]. Young men under the age of 25 make up an unknown, but undoubtedly significant, proportion of these workers [9]. These movement patterns may constitute a major risk element for HIV illness by increasing access to drugs and commercial sex, as well as potentially increasing the propensity to engage in risk behaviours when back home. Even though HIV/AIDS epidemic is still at Rasagiline IC50 an early stage in Palestine, you will find alarming signs that it is expanding [10]. HIV is mainly transmitted through heterosexual contact (56%), but in 5% of instances it is transmitted via blood products, 4% by posting unsterilized needles for drug use, 4% mother-to-child, 4% bisexual, 2% homosexual (12% others, 13% unfamiliar) [11]. Most HIV instances were of males and about 80% of HIV instances were in the 20C49 yr age group [11]. As with the rest of the region, efforts to deal with rising issues about HIV risks to young people are critically hampered by lack Rasagiline IC50 of data on most related risk behaviors among young Palestinian men and women. The specific aim of this qualitative study is to provide insights into the perceived prevalence and patterns of sexual behavior among Palestinian.