Background:
Internally displaced people are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence in order to avoid the effects of armed conflicts, situation of generalised violence, violation of human rights or natural or man-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognised state border. Cameroon is counted among the countries with the highest number of internally displaced persons as from December 31, 2019. Among this target of the population, women and girls specifically have a special sexual and reproductive health need that remain unmet due to some factors exposing them. This study wishes to determine associated risk factors of HIV among internally displaced women and girls in Cameroon.
Methods:
The qualitative data collection method was employed to conduct the study. Precisely, 8 focus group discussions and 18 in-depth interviews were made with participants selected randomly using snowball sampling technique namely, health personels, members of organisations of the civil society and internally displaced women ang girls themselves.
Results:
Results showed despite the services made available by Cameroon government and its partners concerning sexual and reproductive health of this target of the population, isolation from family, change of sexual partners, lack of knowledge and neglection of sexual protection measures, sexual violence associated to social determinants like unemployment are among risk factors associated to HIV infection among internally displaced women and girls in Cameroon.
Conclusion: Because of displacement, internally displaced women and girls in the centre region are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection. Education is one of the best interventions to raise awareness among the IDWG as far as HIV/AIDS is concerned.