RESUMEN
AIM: To examine situations of vulnerability to human papillomavirus in the social representations of young women. BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus is one of the most frequent sexually transmitted infections among women and constitutes a serious health problem among youth. This problem is embedded in psychosocial issues that promote situations of vulnerability and affect attitudes and behaviour in relation to prevention. METHODS: Qualitative study based on the theory of social representations, conducted among 64 female students in a high school in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The study used personal semi-structured interviews, with a lexical analysis by Alceste 2010 software. FINDINGS: The inefficacy of information on the human papillomavirus pointed out individual and social vulnerabilities, and showed relationships between the difficulty of access and the perception of low quality in public health services, which also promotes institutional vulnerability. DISCUSSION: The representation of vulnerability to human papillomavirus infection is associated, not only with individual behaviours related to sexuality and gender identity but also to social and institutional conditions involving insufficient information and low quality of and ineffective access to public health services. CONCLUSION: Situations of vulnerability of young women to human papillomavirus infection influence ways of thinking and acting, when they generate feelings and behaviours that put them at risk. The social representations provided knowledge about how the participants appropriated consensual and reified universes in relation to vulnerability, influencing care and awareness of prevention. IMPLICATION FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: Situations of vulnerability, whether individual, social or institutional, warrant the attention of nurses and should be prioritized as public health policy goals to reduce the number of cases of human papillomavirus infection among younger women.