Gendered Perceptions of Sexual Behaviour in Rural South Africa

This paper discusses sexual behaviour findings collected through eleven homogenous focus group discussions conducted among women and men in a predominantly Zulu population in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The objective of this paper is to shed light on sexual behaviour in a rural community. The findings suggest that sex is a taboo subject and the discussion around it is concealed in the use of polite language, euphemisms, and gestures. There are gender and generational dimensions to the discussion of sex. The contribution of this paper lies in the identification of what rural people discuss about sex and the influence of cultural practices and urban or global forces on sexual behaviour in rural areas. The paper adds to the growing body of literature on the use of focus groups in understanding sexual behaviour in rural contexts

Editorial review: Male circumcision, gender and HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa: a (social science) research agenda

No Abstract.SAHARA J Vol. 4 (3) 2007: pp. 658-66

A multi-stakeholder situation assessment of COVID-19 disease preparedness and mitigation measures in a large prison complex in Malawi.

Purpose: Prisons in the sub-Saharan African region face unprecedented challenges during the COVID19 pandemic. In Malawi, the first prison system case of COVID-19 was notified in July 2020. While, prison settings were included in the 2nd domestic COVID-19 response plan within the Law Enforcement cluster (National COVID-19 preparedness and response plan, July-December 2020), they were initially not included in the K157 billion (USD 210 million) COVID-19 fund. Design/methodology/approach: A multi-method situation assessment of the COVID-19 response and human rights assurance of prisoners and staff was conducted in a large prison complex in Malawi. Qualitative research underpinned by the Empirical Phenomenological Psychological (EPP) framework consisted of interviews with key informants such as prison health personnel, senior prison staff, penal and judicial policymakers, government and civil society organisations (n = 14) and focus group discussions with consenting male (n = 48) and female prisoners (n = 48), and prison wardens (n = 24). Prison site visits were supported by detailed observations based on the WHO Checklist for COVID-19 in prisons (n = 9). Data were collected and analysed thematically using the EPP stepwise approach and triangulated based on Bronfenbrenner’s model conceptualising COVID-19 as a multi-level event disrupting the prison eco-system. Findings: The results are presented as MICRO-MESO level individual and community experiences of incarceration during COVID-19 spanning several themes: Awareness raising and knowledge of COVID-19 in prisons; Prison congestion and the impossibility of social distancing; Lack of adequate ventilation, hygiene and sanitation and Provisions and correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE); MESO-MACRO level interplay between the prison community of prisoners and staff and judicial policy impacts; Medical system COVID-19 response, infrastructure and access to healthcare; COVID19 detection and quarantine measures and Prisoner access to the outside world. Originality: This unique situation assessment of the Malawian prison system response to mitigate COVID-19 illustrates the dynamics at the micro-level whereby prisoners rely on the State and have restricted agency in protecting themselves from disease. This is due to severe structural inadequacies based on low resource allocation to prisons leading to a compromised ability to prevent and treat disease; an infirm and congested infrastructure and bottlenecks in the judicial system fueling a continued influx of remand detainees leading to high over capacity. Multi-pronged interventions involving key stakeholders, with prison management and line Ministry as coordinators are warranted to optimise COVID-19 interventions and future disease outbreaks in the Malawian prison system

Community attitudes towards individuals living with HIV in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Antenatal sero-prevalence rates of 30% and more have been reported in KwaZulu-Natal since 1998 and over 50% of all adult deaths in 2000 were due to AIDS. Understanding the changing social and cultural attitudes to AIDS is important in providing contextual information to aid the design of interventions. This paper examines community attitudes towards individuals living with HIV. Eleven focus groups were conducted with men and women. Participants were asked to discuss how people living with HIV were treated within the family and community. The discussions were recorded and transcribed in isiZulu and then translated into English. These were coded using Nud*ist 6 software to identify key themes and sub-themes using content analysis. Gender and area differences were investigated. Generally participants expressed positive attitudes to the treatment of AIDS patients and felt that people living with HIV were being cared for within families. However, they reported more negative attitudes to those living with HIV by the general community and suggested these attitudes and acts of discrimination influenced disclosure. Discrimination included physical isolation and symbolism such as referring to them using a 'three finger' gesture. Participants also reported mixed responses to known HIV-positive individuals, ranging from sympathy to a lack of care, on the grounds that the person is certain to die. There are gender differences in terms of the attitudes towards people living with HIV. Compassion and hopelessness seem to be more common among women than men

Gendered perceptions of sexual behaviour in rural South Africa

This paper discusses sexual behaviour findings collected through eleven homogenous focus group discussions conducted among women and men in a predominantly Zulu population in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The objective of this paper is to shed light on sexual behaviour in a rural community. The findings suggest that sex is a taboo subject and the discussion around it is concealed in the use of polite language, euphemisms, and gestures. There are gender and generational dimensions to the discussion of sex. The contribution of this paper lies in the identification of what rural people discuss about sex and the influence of cultural practices and urban or global forces on sexual behaviour in rural areas. The paper adds to the growing body of literature on the use of focus groups in understanding sexual behaviour in rural contexts.

Editorial review: male circumcision, gender and HIV prevention in sub-Saharan Africa: a (social science) research agenda

Sub-Saharan Africa is the part of the world which is the most affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic, with 24.5 million people infected by the virus that causes AIDS. Adult HIV prevalence in southern Africa is estimated at 16%, at 6% in East Africa and at 4.5% in West and Central Africa (UNAIDS, 2006). Ecological studies in sub-Saharan Africa have suggested a geographical association between areas of higher prevalence of HIV and lower prevalence of male circumcision (MC) (Drain, Halperin, Hughes, Klausner & Bailey, 2006). An initial short-term randomised controlled study on male circumcision led by the Agence nationale de recherche sur le sida (ANRS) at Orange Farm in South Africa revealed a reduction of 60%-75% in the risk of female to male transmission of HIV-1 in circumcised men (Auvert et al., 2005).These studies, which were supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), were conducted in Kisumu in Kenya (Bailey et al., 2007) and in Rakai in Uganda (Gray et al., 2007).They demonstrated a risk reduction of around 58% and 53% respectively.On the 28th of March 2007 based on these studies, the WHO and UNAIDS issued a statement endorsing male circumcision (MC) as an additional strategy in HIV prevention, particularly in high HIV prevalence and low male circumcision countries (WHO/UNAIDS, 2007).