People say that poverty is a major contributor to the spread of HIV/AIDS. That doesn’t make any sense. Surely you can only contract HIV through fluids? How does being poor make any difference? 

South Africa is like two worlds in one. On the one hand, a lot of South Africans live in poverty. They lack basic necessities like food, taxi money school fees etc. On the other, people very near them have money and can afford not only the basic things, but luxuries such as cell phones, designer clothes etc. Poor people often feel as though they don’t have choices. Unfortunately, some people with money prey on the vulnerability of poor people, in particular younger women, exchanging money for sex – called transactional sex. In this relationship, the person with money calls the shots. He or she can demand sex without a condom. It is for this reason that poverty is a contributing factor to the spread of HIV because it puts poor people, often women, in a vulnerable position.