Identifying sources of adolescent exclusion due to violence

s the first generation to grow up under democracy, adolescents in post-apartheid South Africa lead lives that are filled with new opportunities and overshadowed by rampant violence and crime. Even as the end of apartheid improved the lives of many South Africans and extinguished much of the political violence that preceded the transition, violent crime has increased dramatically within certain communities (Naude et al. 2006). The presence of multiple and simultaneous forms of violence and the systemic lack of safety are experienced most acutely by adolescents—in particular, adolescent girls (Brady 2002). High levels of violence and crime within the community are coupled with violence within the home and in schools: again, both of these phenomena primarily affect girls (HRW 2001; Wood and Jewkes 1998; Panos 2003). The Population Council’s Transitions to Adulthood program examines the particular factors that shape adolescents’ life chances and choices. In South Africa, for instance, Council researchers have studied how economic literacy and life skills education affect young men and women who are economically and socially disenfranchised and at high risk for HIV infection (Hallman 2005). To take full advantage of the skills these programs promote, however, young people must have access to safe spaces—both within the program and beyond: in the home, at school, and in the community. Identifying sources of adolescent exclusion due to violence: Participatory mapping in South Africa