Children below the ages of 16 years are not to loiter in town after 8:00pm, community leaders in Begoro within the Fanteakwa District of the Eastern Region have decided. Any child found in drinking bars, video and game centres, night clubs will be arrested. This and many other punitive measures have been adopted by the community leaders to rid the area of moral decadence. This, according to Pro-Link Organisation, a Non-Governmental Organisation in the country, is part of measures to mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS infections, especially among women and young girls in the district. In a petition to the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs to mark the International Day for Women, and jointly signed by Bernice Heloo and Dorcas Coker-Appiah, Directors of the NGO, lamented the increasing vulnerability of women to the HIV epidemic in the country. “About 58 per cent of women constitute the HIV population in Ghana and this is sustained among other things by the relentless cycle of vulnerability affecting girls and young women,” the petition said. In response to this challenge, the NGO in collaboration with its partners is implementing innovative and aggressive initiatives in HIV prevalent communities across the country. Among the issues being addressed include; sexual violence and harassment against women and girls in Ghana; consistent and correct use of condoms for all; importance of counseling and testing for HIV; and Need to reduce stigma against PLWHIV. The NGO is therefore demanding among other things the immediate end to the inhuman practices such as widow cleansing. “Communities are advocating for complete abolition of all harmful traditional practices that expose women and men to HIV infection". Age for puberty rites for girls has to be reviewed. In some instances, children as young as five years go through puberty rites after which they are regarded “ripe” for sexual activity. They are also seeking for a reduction in the cost of dowry from traditional leaders and family heads Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana