This story is part of The GW Hatchet's 2006 Life Section Sex Issue.
As part of freshman Hayley Richardson's volunteer work, she makes and distributes condom kits and crack kits.
Distributing free condoms and clean syringes, Richardson regularly works with Prevention Works, an organization striving to reduce the spread of HIV in the nation's capital.
"There's a lot of talk among the GW community, but what about getting out in the trenches and working with these people?" Richardson said.
"It isn't pretty and it's messy and it's hard and uncomfortable, but it's real," she added. "And you can't put a value on human connection. It just exists in the realm of the abstract until you see what it's doing in the community and it's just eroding it."
Students might not know it, but D.C. has some of the most dismal sex-related statistics in the country.
New cases of AIDS are appearing in D.C. at a rate nearly 10 times higher than the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2004, the CDC reported that the District had 179.2 new AIDS cases per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the country.
Other sex-related statistics are almost as depressing. According to 2002 CDC statistics, D.C. has a teen pregnancy rate higher than any state. Nearly 7 percent of D.C.'s females ages 15 to 19 have given birth to a child. The national average is 4.3 percent.
"We shouldn't feel that GW is not a part of this. We aren't removed from D.C. The one-in-20 statistic doesn't apply to Southeast, it applies to all of D.C.," said Student Global AIDS Campaign chapter leader sophomore Julieanne Burridge, referring to a popularly quoted estimate from the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice that says that one in 20 people living in D.C. is infected with HIV. The Administration for HIV Policy and Programs reported in September that nearly one out of 50 D.C. residents is living with AIDS.
As part of freshman Hayley Richardson's volunteer work, she makes and distributes condom kits and crack kits.
Distributing free condoms and clean syringes, Richardson regularly works with Prevention Works, an organization striving to reduce the spread of HIV in the nation's capital.
"There's a lot of talk among the GW community, but what about getting out in the trenches and working with these people?" Richardson said.
"It isn't pretty and it's messy and it's hard and uncomfortable, but it's real," she added. "And you can't put a value on human connection. It just exists in the realm of the abstract until you see what it's doing in the community and it's just eroding it."
Students might not know it, but D.C. has some of the most dismal sex-related statistics in the country.
New cases of AIDS are appearing in D.C. at a rate nearly 10 times higher than the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2004, the CDC reported that the District had 179.2 new AIDS cases per 100,000 people, the highest rate in the country.
Other sex-related statistics are almost as depressing. According to 2002 CDC statistics, D.C. has a teen pregnancy rate higher than any state. Nearly 7 percent of D.C.'s females ages 15 to 19 have given birth to a child. The national average is 4.3 percent.
"We shouldn't feel that GW is not a part of this. We aren't removed from D.C. The one-in-20 statistic doesn't apply to Southeast, it applies to all of D.C.," said Student Global AIDS Campaign chapter leader sophomore Julieanne Burridge, referring to a popularly quoted estimate from the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice that says that one in 20 people living in D.C. is infected with HIV. The Administration for HIV Policy and Programs reported in September that nearly one out of 50 D.C. residents is living with AIDS.
