Many unmarried young heterosexual couples in Kenya favor unprotected anal sex because it allows women to retain their vaginal virginity until their wedding night—and because they mistakenly consider it safe, Women’s eNews reports. The article focuses on Sophia (not her real name), a 20-year-old Muslim Somali woman with AIDS living in Kenya, who contracted HIV from her boyfriend during unprotected anal sex. She is hiding her status from her family and is not sure whether to tell her husband-to-be, a Muslim man she has never met.

To read the Women’s eNews article, click here.