Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force Innovates With Girl Talk Program

As part of my position at the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force (PATF), I am fortunate enough to be able to work with various staff members and their ongoing projects. One such project is called Girl Talk, and my coworker, Katie, spearheads the program. As part of Girl Talk, Katie is able to go into schools and homes and talk to young women, aged 13 to 18, about healthy relationships, domestic violence, and safer sex practices. Girl Talk’s model of putting on a “Girl Talk Party” creates a fun environment to talk about difficult things related to health education. As the Volunteer Coordinator at PATF, I help mobilize volunteers to create Safe Sex kits that are then handed out to young women who are interested in receiving them. Our own Pittsburgh Health Corps members even help out making the Safe Sex kits! Usually these kits are made up of little bags that involve various condoms and informational packets so that teenage girls are enabled to protect themselves and not simply rely on their partners to do so. We usually distribute several hundreds of these safe sex kits every year. When time permits, I am able to attend Katie’s seminars with her and talk to young women about their experiences, expectations, and how they can best protect themselves during both emotional and physical relationships.

This program has been a really eye-opening experience for me, especially since I grew up in a very conservative household. As someone who has been on both sides of the abstinence vs sex-education debate, I have learned a lot by helping Katie. I believe the Girl Talk program at PATF strikes a very good balance as it allows parents to be involved in the process—they sign permission slips for the girls to attend the talks when we go into schools—while still empowering young women to make informed decisions. Furthermore, I have found through my experience that many of the young women we speak to have already begun to explore their sexuality, and that this program, initially meant to be a form of preventative education,  often reaches these teenagers after they have already had a sexual experience. Overall, I am incredibly impressed by what my host site, and especially Katie, have accomplished in reaching out to young women and enabling them to make healthier choices and more informed decisions to protect themselves from the transmission of HIV and from being involved in unhealthy relationships.

Areej shows off a Safe Sex kit specifically for the Girl Talk program!