Building more peaceful gender relationships in South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Doctor of Philosophy in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.The objective of this study is to understand the attitudes and behaviour of young South Kivu men towards women in order to encourage the development of more peaceful attitudes and behaviour. This study provides insights from an urban and rural young male perspective into attitudes, behaviour, and context within which violence against women occurs. The study also included urban and rural young females to understand their perspectives and experiences on male – perpetrated violence within relationships. This study examines men‟s and women‟s gender roles and relationship norms, attitudes and beliefs in the context of ongoing relationships and marriage. While investigating the culture of sexual violence, it is shown that the construction of young people‟s attitude and behaviour is certainly influenced by social, cultural, political and economic factors and these factors have also implications for the ways in which heterosexual relationships are constructed and narrated. A curriculum is developed, based on the study‟s findings for use in secondary schools

GIRLFRIENDS, SEX AND VIOLENCE: THE ATTITUDES AND REPORTED BEHAVIOURS OF ADOLESCENT MALES IN A SOUTH AFRICAN TOWNSHIP

It has long been recognised that levels of gender violence in contemporary South Africa are very high and that a significant part of this violence involves forced sex. The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) (2008) has characterised the country as being in a “state of sexual tyranny”. The specific aim of this research is to better understand the important beliefs and attitudes of a sample of young urban men concerning girlfriends, violence and sex. Such beliefs and attitudes are likely to result in behaviours which have direct implications for the high levels of gender violence, the high rates of HIV prevalence and the incidence of new infection

A culture of violence and HIV/AIDS : a study of adolescent males in KwaMashu Township.

Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.Male sexual violence is prevalent in South Africa. This study examines the attitudes and behaviour of young Zulu men towards their peer females and offers an understanding of the complex factors influencing male attitudes and behaviour towards females. The study found that men feel that they are in charge, and they cannot control their sexual urges. Therefore, when they are aroused, they believe that their girlfriend/partner/wife must meet their sexual needs. If women are reluctant to have sex, it is ok to force them to do so

‘It’s not good to eat a candy in a wrapper’: male students’ perspectives on condom use and concurrent sexual partnerships in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

This paper reports on fieldwork carried out in 2011 with aim to investigate young men’s perspectives about condoms use, concurrent sexual partnerships and sex in the context of HIV/AIDS. This study employed a qualitative approach to collect data from 28 boys aged 16–20 from two urban and two rural high schools in South Kivu province. Four focus group discussions and 20 individual interviews were conducted among them. The findings showed that most students identified condoms as unsafe and untrustworthy. Reasons given for the mistrust of condoms were related to the belief that condoms do not give enough protection from Sexually Transmitted Infections, HIV and pregnancies. Most participants believe that condoms have a ‘small hole’ or are unreliable and are therefore not effective in prevention. They also mentioned that condoms encourage inappropriate sexual activity. They prefer flesh-to-flesh sex rather than protected sex using a condom. However, a few participants acknowledged the importance of condom use. Despite the risk of HIV transmission, boys believe that it is appropriate for them to have concurrent sexual partnerships. They justified the concurrent sexual partnerships as a way of ensuring that they cannot miss a girl to satisfy their sexual desire. Given the boys’ failure to use condoms and their strong inclination to concurrent sexual partnerships, there is a need for heath groups and stakeholders within the area to increase awareness about condoms’ effectiveness and improve knowledge dissemination on Sexually Transmitted Diseases and how they are prevented