GENDER AND HIV/AIDS ? WHAT?S IT ALL ABOUT?

The term "gender" can be confusing. To most people, "gender" is about women, but in fact it relates to the experience of both men and women, and as such, is a human issue: the work that people do, the income they receive, the roles they are given and the relationships that they share are all shaped by social traditions which treat men and women very differently. Gender bias plays a major role in the rapid spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, in the following ways:

The experience of women:

Gender-based inequality makes women vulnerable in the following ways:

? Compliance and subservience = women are less able to control how, when and where sex takes place
? Economic dependence on men; women sell sex in order to survive
? Women's sexual inexperience is prized by male partners
? Alarming proportions of abuse/violence (emotional, material, physical and sexual) leads to increased risk of HIV/AIDS infection
? Support for a culture of silence and stigma
? Burdened with caring for family members who are ill
? Discrimination regarding access to treatment, support and care
? Women are physiologically more vulnerable to HIV infection

The experience of men:

Men, especially young boys, are also vulnerable, in that:

• They conform to stereotyped versions of dominant masculinity, which increases their risk of contracting the virus and limits their ability to protect themselves and others
  
• They are encouraged to gain sexual experience and have many sexual partners so that they can be popular
  
• Male sexuality is perceived as unrestrainable, and their sexual pleasure is valued and emphasised
  
• Men are taught that they should control sexual decisions and that they alone have the right to enjoy greater freedom, power, control and invincibility
  
• Lack of employment opportunities encourage men to migrate, resulting in disruption of home and family life, which isolates them; this leads them into substance abuse and use of commercial sex-workers

Gender-sensitive HIV awareness programmes

• Culturally sensitive, gender-relevant HIV prevention interventions are limited, and those that do exist tend to work only with women
  
• Many depict men as background figures e.g. rapists and thugs who prey on women outside the home, whereas women need skills in dealing with abuse inside the home as well, e.g. how to exercise their right to control the nature and timing of sexual activity with their chosen partners
  
• Funders should prioritise programmes acknowledging women?s concerns and needs, while examining how ideas about masculinity are constructed and reproduced

Implications for the workplace

• A gender-sensitive orientation of policies and programmes should be an explicit policy from inception, with full involvement of all stakeholders
  
• Training is an effective tool for making HIV/AIDS programmes more gender-sensitive
  
• More research on using dialogue as a strategy and tool for improving sexual communication between both men AND women and for promoting HIV risk reduction is needed
  
• Female condoms should be made available everywhere and be affordable

Good governance re gender-sensitive HIV programmes

• The implementation of ethical and legal, human rights-based frameworks, particularly those relating to gender issues, is crucial.
  
• The importance of transparency and the flow of information to everybody, taking the social context into consideration, cannot be overemphasised.
  
• There must be responsiveness and the provision of easy access to affordable medical treatment, rehabilitation and other forms of support for People Living With HIV/AIDS
  
• Mediation between the interests of People Living with HIV/AIDS and those who stigmatise and discriminate against them, is needed.
  
• Responses to HIV/AIDS should provide long-term solutions and be sustainable

The major challenge is to help reshape society?s mindset, so that together we can confront and conquer the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Submitted by Patricia Manele (formerly Gender Programming Officer of the National Community Radio Forum - NCRF)

Useful contacts:

Mrs Busayo Ige
Centre for Gender Studies
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041
Tel: (031) 260 1413
Email: [email protected]

Mrs Sisana Majeke
School of Nursing
University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4041
Tel: (031) 260 3317
Email: [email protected]

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