Benita Moolman - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Benita Moolman

Description: The data contains 26 transcripts of interviews and focus groups with high school lea... more Description: The data contains 26 transcripts of interviews and focus groups with high school learners in Soweto. Abstract: The study was an evaluation of a programme that combined girls soccer with an educational curriculum that simultaneously tackled the issues of intimate partner choice, gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS prevention. The dataset therefore provides rich accounts of intimate/romantic relations of youth in Soweto, the role of violence in these young peoples lives and the health services that youth are able to access.

Description: This data set contains the responses of young adolescents (aged 10-14 years) to a qu... more Description: This data set contains the responses of young adolescents (aged 10-14 years) to a questionnaire concerning their sexual and reproductive health, conducted in Gert Sibande District, Mpumalanga, South Africa in 2017. Issues like bodily development during puberty, menstruation, dating and sex as well as accessing information about these issues are included. The data set for dissemination contains 132 variables and 696 cases from the expected 840 which represented 83% response rate. Abstract: In South Africa, as in other developing countries, delaying sexual debut and preventing coerced first sexual intercourse, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted teenage pregnancy among adolescents as well as providing appropriate healthcare services for this age group are major policy and practice concerns. However, there are important information gaps relating to the biological onset of puberty and associated psycho-social factors among boys and girls in rural South Africa and how...

Description: The purpose of this data collection was to measure change in attitudes, knowledge an... more Description: The purpose of this data collection was to measure change in attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of Grade 8 and Grade 9 learners on a set of pre-identified indicators in relation to peer education and HIV/AIDS. This is the first data set obtained from three phases of collections which were analysed to explore whether peer education in our sample of schools had achieved the set objectives. It contains 286 variables and 2951 cases. The following topics were covered throughout the three sets of data collection: respondent's demographic data, respondent's school data, exposure to Peer Education, future orientation, sensation seeking and risk taking behaviour, drug and alcohol use, sexual efficacy, sexual experience, HIV/AIDS knowledge, HIV/AIDS attitudes, HIV/AIDS behaviours and intentions, decision making, healthy and unhealthy relationships and gender and social support. Abstract: The purpose of this data collection was to measure change in attitudes, knowledge and...

Gender and behaviour, 2015

Prison, as place is a micro-cosm of the normative regulation and discipline of gendered and sexua... more Prison, as place is a micro-cosm of the normative regulation and discipline of gendered and sexual bodies. The discipline and surveillance of men and same sex desire involves the re/production and circulation of discourses of heterosexuality and hegemonic masculinities, in particular. Heterosexual masculinity is circulated as the primary form of male sexual practice, even in an all-male environment such as prison. Not necessarily because it is but rather because the maintenance of hegemonic masculinity requires it. In this paper I explore the disruption of regulatory boundaries of the body that clearly define heterosexual in opposition to homosexual and examine the function of prison as carceral space in the constitution of masculinity and male, same sex desire. It will examine the sexual practices and performances of incarcerated sex offenders in three South Africa prisons and it is based on focus groups and individual interviews which were the basis of a larger research project.

Final draft report submitted to the Centre for Peer Education, Health and Education Training and ... more Final draft report submitted to the Centre for Peer Education, Health and Education Training and Technical Assistance Services (HETTAS), 14 February

South African Journal of Psychology

Intimate partner violence among adolescents is a result of gender and sexual inequitable norms. S... more Intimate partner violence among adolescents is a result of gender and sexual inequitable norms. South African studies note the high prevalence of intimate partner violence in adolescent relationships with adolescent girls and women bearing the high costs. This article examines adolescent girls’ attempts to challenge dating violence and exit violent relationships. It reports the results of a gender empowerment programme linked to girls’ soccer in a South African township. The results indicate the complexities experienced by girls moving towards more gender equitable relationships, some strategies they adopt, and some challenges they still face. The programme facilitated by Grassroots Soccer (Soweto) is located in a Black, urban, low socio-economic context with high rates of gender-based violence. While it appears promising, further curriculum development is needed in the programme, particularly in relation to changing gendered and sexualized social norms that prescribe conventional a...

South African Journal of Child Health

The study's qualitative design is geared towards unearthing rich, Background. Very young adolesce... more The study's qualitative design is geared towards unearthing rich, Background. Very young adolescents receive little research and pragmatic attention regarding their sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs. As a result, their experiences are often overlooked. Furthermore, when this age group is included in SRH education, the dominant public health lens tends to focus on health risks associated with sex, with less emphasis on a holistic approach that considers the sociocultural and relational contexts in which adolescents' decision-making about sex and dating occurs. Objectives. To explore the beliefs, perceptions and decision-making pathways of adolescents about heterosexual sex, dating and relationships. Methods. The sample included 33 girls and 30 boys aged 10-14 years attending schools in rural Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. Data collection entailed participatory methodologies of group-based activities and individual interviews. Data were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded and analysed using thematic analysis. Results. The findings focused on three themes: timing of dating, relationships and sex; gendered depictions of first sex; and agency in sexual decision-making. These themes shed light on the relational context in which adolescents' decision-making takes place and highlight the pervasive influence of wider gendered norms. Conclusion. Very young adolescents are not sexually naive and instead are faced with complex decisions regarding sex and dating. This age group is not, however, fully supported in developing a healthy, positive sexuality when emphasis is on the negative outcomes of sex. The paper concludes with recommendations for adolescent SRH programmes to provide a supportive environment for younger adolescents to make informed choices and develop positive, healthy sexualities.

South African Journal of Education

Agenda

This issue of Agenda explores new developments in contemporary thinking and activism around the c... more This issue of Agenda explores new developments in contemporary thinking and activism around the critical nexus of cultural meanings about biology and scientific biomedical processes, bodies and human rights in African feminist thinking. The intersections between biology, sex and bodies, and the social and cultural constructions of gender, and how these two arenas are mutually constitutive are important though under-examined in postapartheid and postcolonial contexts. Feminists have contested the limits and possibilities that patriarchal institutions such as the colonial and apartheid state have set for bodies and gender identities in the arenas of sexuality, affect, reproduction and childcare, that are female, black, homosexual, or are differently abled. Global scientific advances in reproductive technologies, sex change, and biomechanical engineering to expand the capacities of people living with disabilities have enhanced many lives. However these advances have also been utilised by states, religious, educational and health institutions to reproduce new forms of discrimination and exclusion of people considered to possess 'atypical bodies' that do not fit with the current or the ideal citizen. Barbara Brown's seminal paper (1987) examining the apartheid health services' provision of contraceptives and sterilisation to limit the fertility of black women in South Africa is a poignant reminder how supposedly neutral contraceptive technologies are marshalled for racist and xenophobic intents. Such abuses require feminists to examine the relationship between patriarchal power and biomedical and scientific knowledge about sexuality and reproduction. We have to ask who 'is allowed to exercise reproductive choice, assert sexual capacities and agency, and who is not, as well as what

SAHARA-J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS, 2016

Background: Peer-education programmes aim to bring about attitudinal and behavioural changes in t... more Background: Peer-education programmes aim to bring about attitudinal and behavioural changes in their target audience. In the South African educational context, peer education is a favoured approach in dealing with issues such as HIV and AIDS, sexual decision-making and substance misuse. Given the reliance on peer-education programmes in the educational system, it is important to establish how well they are working. This study aims to assess the effect of an extensive, structured, time-limited, curriculum-based, peer-led educational programme on first-year high school learners in public schools in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Method: The curriculum called 'Listen Up' addresses issues such as supporting peers, sexual decisionmaking, healthy relationships, HIV risk, alcohol misuse and unwanted pregnancy in seven structured sessions. The programme targeted adolescents in Grade 8 growing up in what are considered to be risky environments in public schools in the Western Cape during 2012 and 2013. The intervention was evaluated based on 10 scales sourced from published literature related to the outcome indicators of future orientation, sensation-seeking, self-efficacy in sexual relations, HIV transmission knowledge, HIV prevention knowledge, HIV attitudes, sexual attitudes, decision-making, healthy relationships and social support. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse demographic and community characteristics and analyses of variance were used to detect differences between groups. The surveys were administered to a total of 7709 learners across three waves of the study in 27 peer intervention schools and eight control schools. Results: Immediately post intervention, statistically significant differences were noted for the intervention schools when compared to their baseline levels on measures of future orientation, self-efficacy in sexual relations, knowledge regarding HIV transmission, knowledge regarding HIV prevention and knowledge in terms of healthy relationships. Comparing baseline values with results collected between five and seven months post intervention, statistically significant results were noted for self-efficacy in sexual relations and knowledge regarding HIV transmission. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that peer-education can improve adolescents' self-efficacy in sexual relations as well as knowledge regarding the transmission of HIV and therefore can contribute to the prevention of HIV transmission among adolescents.

African Journal of AIDS Research, 2016

Peer education has long been seen as a key health promotion strategy and an important tool in pre... more Peer education has long been seen as a key health promotion strategy and an important tool in preventing HIV infection. In South African schools, it is currently one of the strategies employed to do so. Based on both a recent research study of peer education across 35 schools and drawing on multiple previous studies in South Africa, this paper examines the key elements of peer education that contribute to its effectiveness and asks how this aligns with current educational and health policies. From this research, it summarises and proposes shared goals and aims, minimum standards of implementation and reflects on the necessary infrastructure required for peer education to be effective. In light of these findings, it offers policy recommendations regarding who should be doing peer education and the status peer education should have in a school&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s formal programme.

Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 14725843 2013 775843, Feb 1, 2013

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or s... more This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

The Palgrave Handbook of Prison Ethnography, 2015

This paper explores the construction of heterosexual masculinity in relation to gang rape on the ... more This paper explores the construction of heterosexual masculinity in relation to gang rape on the Cape Flats. I examine how the political and economic marginalisation of coloured1 men under apartheid influenced the construction of a violent, sexualised masculinity linked to gang ...