16 Days Blog-A-Thon: Do Power Relations Derail Efforts to Curb HIV/AIDS?

As South Africa joins the world to commemorate World AIDS Day we bring issues related to gender and sexuality ‘out of the closet’ and lay them on the table so that we can openly discuss these complex aspects of our personality and self. We examine how gender ideologies aimed at controlling women’s sexuality play a significant role in the spread of HIV.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says sexuality is a central aspect of being human throughout life and encompasses sex, gender identities and roles, sexual orientation, eroticism, pleasure, intimacy and reproduction. It is experienced and expressed in thoughts, fantasies, desires, beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviours, practices, roles and relationships. “Sexuality is influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological, social, economic, political, cultural, ethical, legal, historical, religious and spiritual factors,” says WHO (2004).

In South Africa, not all women experience or express their sexuality mainly because of gender ideologies aimed at keeping women on the leash while maintaining men’s power over women. Women remain largely disempowered. For instance, they are unable to negotiate safer sex and the use of condoms. This puts them at a greater risk of contracting HIV.
Men’s power over women’s sexuality manifests in the form of violence against women, including sexual violence. Research has found that women who have been physically and sexually assaulted by their partners, as well as those who are in relationships with men who have a greater degree of control over them, are at a higher risk of HIV infection.

A 2009 survey conducted by the South African Medical Research Council aimed at understanding men’s health and use of violence revealed that more than four-in-ten South African men reported to have been physically violent to an intimate partner and over a quarter of these men reported ever having raped a woman with nearly one-in-twenty committing rape in 2008.
The 2010 UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic notes that an estimated 5.6 million people were living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa in 2009 and estimated 310,000 South Africans died of AIDS in 2009. The prevalence is 17.8 percent among those aged 15-49. The report reveals that one-in-three women aged 25-29, and over a quarter of men aged 30-34, are living with HIV.

The normalisation of gender ideologies and unequal power relations which are closely linked to sexuality matters are some of the factors that contribute to high HIV infection rates in the country. The South African Government has, however, launched a major HIV counselling and testing campaign (HCT) in 2010 aimed at reducing the HIV incidence rate by 50 percent by June 2011. The question is: Is this enough to ensure that HIV infection rates are halved by 2011. At this point we are looking for solutions that bring positive change in the lives of women. Therefore, efforts that address the effects of HIV are uncalled for. We need solutions that tackle and uproot the causes of the problems and these are closely intertwined with the need to address sexuality issues in the country.

As we join the world to commemorate the World AIDS day, I invite you to express your thoughts on sexuality matters affecting women in South Africa. This will enable us to shed more light into the problem that the country is currently facing and enable us as a nation to collectively find solutions to addressing this problem.
 
To send your comments and to participate in this discussion you need to register. Follow these steps:
Go to www.womensnet.org.za, Below the 16 Days of Activism icon, click on register link. When you register you will receive an email sent to your email address. The email will have a link to enable you to activate your account. Return to http://www.womensnet.org.za/login then enter your login details Go to: http://www.womensnet.org.za/16daysofactivism , see menu on your right hand side, click on "create blog post" and you are ready to blog.
 
If you have limited access to the internet but would like to participate in this discussion send your comments to Fanisa on fundraising [at] womensnet [dot] org [dot] za