Ntombozuko Kraai

Ntombozuko has been a coordinator of Wellness Foundation’s Young Urban Women project in partnership with ActionAid International. She is a human rights activist focusing on young women and sexual and reproductive health with a special interest in gender-based violence. She has mobilized and educated the community around voluntary medical male circumcision, PrEP, microbicides, clinical trial conduct and more. She has also represented community on the protocol development teams for the vaccine study, HVTN 097, and the microbicide ring study, ASPIRE 020. Ntombozuko is raising three children—two boys and a daughter—and her desire is to see them respect women and to see violence of any kind as a crime.

Why I want to advocate for HIV prevention in 2016?
In South Africa, the HIV incidence rate amongst females aged 15-24 is four times higher than males the same age. There has been a lot done on HIV treatment, care and support, despite the current challenges of antiretroviral stock-outs. Activism has been built for many years and many HIV positive heroes have changed the status quo. We can learn as prevention activists from the ARV rollout but research is still a new concept for many communities. There is a need to educate young women on new biomedical prevention methods, the importance of research and how it’s done so that they will become champions of an HIV free generation.

Where Are They Now?
Learn what Ntombozuko is up to today.