Gender and HIV in South Africa (original) (raw)
Related papers
‘The epidemic in this country has the face of a woman’ 1 : Gender and HIV/AIDS in South Africa 2
African Journal of AIDS Research, 2011
Epidemiological data clearly show that the highest levels of HIV prevalence occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Less visible, however, is the complex combination of forces that fuel HIV epidemics in this region -these have been dubbed 'the lethal cocktail.' It is this 'cocktail' that creates an enabling environment for the spread of HIV. The HIV epidemic in the region is increasingly 'feminised' as a growing proportion of new infections occurs among and affects women. The gendered pattern of distribution of HIV in South Africa reflects a similar pattern. The aim of this article is to interrogate the contextual factors underlying the differential vulnerabilities of men and women, and the implications for HIV prevention, treatment and care. The analysis, based on a review of documents and applicable literature, reveals that a perilous mix of biomedical, political, economic, and cultural forces shapes the gendered dynamic of the HIV epidemic in South Africa. The article identifies a theoretical framework to decode the most common components of this mix, namely: lack of access to material resources, cultural norms wherein women are subservient to men and masculinity is partly defined in terms of multiple sexual partners and intergenerational sex, combined with high levels of violence against women. We conclude by offering a framework for gendered interventions for HIV prevention, treatment and care.
‘The epidemic in this country has the face of a woman’: Gender and HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Ajar-african Journal of Aids Research, 2011
Epidemiological data clearly show that the highest levels of HIV prevalence occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Less visible, however, is the complex combination of forces that fuel HIV epidemics in this region — these have been dubbed 'the lethal cocktail.' It is this 'cocktail' that creates an enabling environment for the spread of HIV. The HIV epidemic in the region is increasingly 'feminised' as a growing proportion of new infections occurs among and affects women. The gendered pattern of distribution of HIV in South Africa reflects a similar pattern. The aim of this article is to interrogate the contextual factors underlying the differential vulnerabilities of men and women, and the implications for HIV prevention, treatment and care. The analysis, based on a review of documents and applicable literature, reveals that a perilous mix of biomedical, political, economic, and cultural forces shapes the gendered dynamic of the HIV epidemic in South Africa. The article identifies a theoretical framework to decode the most common components of this mix, namely: lack of access to material resources, cultural norms wherein women are subservient to men and masculinity is partly defined in terms of multiple sexual partners and intergenerational sex, combined with high levels of violence against women. We conclude by offering a framework for gendered interventions for HIV prevention, treatment and care.
Sex, sexuality, sickness: women, culture and HIV/AIDS in South Africa
Sex, sexuality, sickness: women, culture and HIV/AIDS in South Africa, 2004
Current HIV-prevention work indicates that simply providing HIV-related information plays a limited role in changing sexual practices, and instead stresses the need to address the social and cultural forces shaping individual behaviour. The aim of this study was thus to explore the social influences that shape women’s sexual behaviour with specific attention given to discourses of gender and HIV/AIDS. Material was generated through seven focus group discussions with black women living in a peri-urban area in Durban, and was interpreted using discourse analysis. The study clarified the ways in which women are not necessarily in a position to make purely rational, individual decisions about safe sex, since these decisions are intimately linked to social constructions of sexuality and the power relations that operate in cultures. It identified specific cultural practices linked to the organisation of gender roles and how these influence safe sex practices. The analysis then examined the implications of these findings for future HIV/AIDS education interventions.
Hiv/Aids and Women: African and South African Perspectives
HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa is a dynamic subject that has attracted ongoing research interest, support and services. Through a systematic literature review, using an African frame of reference, this article analyses the effect of the pandemic on women as a vulnerable group, critically reviews service provision and education and offers suggestions for future research. Two theoretical frameworks guide the analysis: the systems frame-work to highlight the inter-relationship of the multiple factors exacerbating women's vulnerability to HIV and the social constructionist framework to appreciate how socially constructed realities shape (women's) lives.
Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2010
Research shows that gender power inequity in relationships and intimate partner violence places women at enhanced risk of HIV infection. Men who have been violent towards their partners are more likely to have HIV. Men's behaviours show a clustering of violent and risky sexual practices, suggesting important connections. This paper draws on Raewyn Connell's notion of hegemonic masculinity and reflections on emphasized femininities to argue that these sexual, and male violent, practices are rooted in and flow from cultural ideals of gender identities. The latter enables us to understand why men and women behave as they do, and the emotional and material context within which sexual behaviours are enacted.In South Africa, while gender identities show diversity, the dominant ideal of black African manhood emphasizes toughness, strength and expression of prodigious sexual success. It is a masculinity women desire; yet it is sexually risky and a barrier to men engaging with HIV tr...
Politics in the Making of HIV/AIDS in South Africa
The HIV epidemic remains one of the most challenging of modern times, despite the enormous promise of anti-retroviral treatment. This timely book takes a critical look at HIV/AIDS in the context of South Africa, the country with the largest HIV epidemic in the world. Drawing on feminist science and technology studies and a close analysis of a range of textual sources, Politics in the Making of HIV/AIDS in South Africa tracks how the disease has been formed and transformed through political struggles. It illuminates the ways these struggles have also generated new selves for those living with HIV. In conducting this enquiry, the book addresses pressing questions about the politics of public health, the ethics of biological citizenship, and agency and the making of neoliberal subjects. It should appeal to scholars and students with interests in the sociology of health and medicine, the body in society, science and technology studies, and public health.