**Abstinence works every time
**There is a solution for the HIV/AIDS epidemic: Abstinence before marriage and         faithfulness within marriage.
**Abstinence is the only 100% sure way to avoid the negative physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual and financial consequences of sex outside of marriage.

Prevention through abstinence will benefit the total health of our youth and adults.
Did you know that:

1 in 13 teen girls 15 to 19 years old gets pregnant each year in DC, and in many DC communities, up to 60% of all girls will get pregnant at least once?

As many as 1 in 20 adults in DC is estimated to be infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and over 9000 DC residents are living with AIDS, which is almost 1 in every 50 adults.

Many youth do not know that is "normal" to save sex for marriage? If they do not have that goal to begin with, how will they ever reach it?

Girls who experiment with drugs or sex are two to three times more likely to be depressed than those who don’t.?

Boys and girls who are sexually active are also much more likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, smoke marijuana, be suspended from school, or be arrested?

Condoms do not provide any protection against HPV (human papillomavirus, the primary cause of cervical cancer) or trichomonas vaginalis, and only 50% protection (at best) against genital herpes, gonorrhea and syphilis and chlamydia?

During one year, over 1300 teens and preteens were diagnosed with Chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to sterility if not treated?

Prevention through abstinence will improve future outcomes for youth and for our city

Studies reveal that even in high-crime inner-city neighborhoods, well over 90 percent of children from safe, stable, two-parent homes do not become delinquents

The District of Columbia provides free health care , food, and ongoing benefits for unwed mothers, costing thousands of dollars per pregnancy, but spends virtually nothing on directive

programs that teach youth to abstain before marriage.

Abstinence Awareness Week Fact Sheet (PDF File)

Sources for the Abstinence Awareness Fact Sheet