Understanding Abstinence

Abstinence is refraining from action, particularly refraining from activities regarded as pleasurable by those who indulge, including sexual activity, drinking alcohol, and smoking.

In cultures in which girls and women lack autonomy and control of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is a priority, an appropriate approach to abstinence is one that takes into account these social and cultural pressures.

It is an unrealistic expectation to expect chaste behavior when social and cultural pressures are ignored or when aimed at powerless girls and women, or if the strength of the sexual impulse in uninhibited youth is overlooked.