WCRP/HIVAN Forum - Gender and Violence

Programme Director: Pramda Ramasar ?– lecturer in business and professional ethics (Hindu faith). Panelists: Dr Shakira Cassim ?– family GP and members of the Islamic Medical Association; Thuli Hlatswayo -Anglican Church, Moeti Lesuthu - PACSA and Sizwe Mchunu - TAI (Targeted AIDS Interventions).

Saydoon Sayed of the WCRP?’s Durban Chapter introduced the Forum, the theme of which was founded on the premise that while HIV/AIDS per se is a health issue, the spread of HIV infection, i.e. the epidemic itself, is a gender issue, because vulnerability to HIV infection is exacerbated by widespread gender inequality.

?“Abuse is a major concern to all of us,?” said Saydoon, ?“and the devastating effects of violence in households is cutting across all sectors, groups, families, religions, and even economic activities, in society. Men themselves are breaking their silence and speaking about abuses being perpetrated against them, and there are organisations trying to heal the rifts between men and women. This healing cannot begin unless we understand what is lacking in our lives and how this gives rise to gender violence.?”

Dr Ramasar addressed the gathering by explaining that gender abuse was not a recent phenomenon - although nowadays the increased attention focused on the problem was heightening awareness around it - and its causes and manifestation were very diverse. ?“The consequences of this violence for all of us are very grave,?” she said, ?“especially as it relates to the risks associated with it in terms of HIV infection. Many conceptual papers and empirical examinations have been produced in contemporary studies of family life, but little seems to improve.?”

Quoting from the writings of Dr Patti Henderson (who had contributed to a 1996 HSRC study on the subject), Dr Ramasar noted that male abuse of women is regarded as ?“natural?”.

?“This gives cause for deep concern,?” she said, ?“for if women are such easy targets, what of children? What are the factors that drive men to inflict this on them, and what are the consequences for family life and social norms? We must look at the macro-contexts shaping these issues and identify the key determinants: gender and age seem to be significant, as young girls are the most vulnerable to attack.?” Dr Ramasar emphasised that everyone in society should be alerted to the need for proactive policies and interventions to address gender abuse, in both rural and urban settings.

Moeti Lesuthu from PACSA then gave a presentation on the role of the Church in understanding and mitigating gender abuse. He said that FBOs are seen to be actively mobilising around the epidemic and the issues that govern and underlie the spread of HIV, particularly in terms of instruction and guidance around moral and sexual issues, and also in caring for the ill and dying.

?“However, there is a gap when it comes to gender and HIV,?” he said, ?“especially in terms of women?’s vulnerability, and this gap is deepened by the silence and stigma surrounding the subject. We also need to arrive at clear definitions of the term ?‘gender?’. Certainly, by this we understand that there are differences in ?‘masculine?’ and ?‘feminine?’ human beings, but what about their roles and responsibilities, and also the power bases which are ?‘gendered?’? Who decides whose rights are uppermost??”

Mr Lesuthu said that although we can argue that both sex and gender-bias are keys to HIV infection, it is also poverty that undermines the potential for gender equity and how individuals cope once they are infected. ?“Those with the least power to protect themselves and the least access to resources are the most vulnerable to HIV,?” he explained, ?“and of course, these are women and children.?”

He issued a hand-out on dominant views relating to masculine and feminine sexuality, and briefly outlined the paradoxes and adversarial structure of the dynamics involved: for men, sexuality is power without responsibility; for women, it responsibility without power.

?“It?’s virtually considered attractive, if not merely a ?‘natural risk?’ for a man to have a sexually transmitted disease (STD),?” he said, ?“as it shows that he?’s ?‘been around?’ and proves that he is desirable and virile.?” Similarly, with maternity being regarded as essential to a woman?’s identity and status, particularly in the sense that women are seen as channels for producing heirs, prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV lodges the child?’s right to life above the mother?’s, in her own terms, but conversely, should she feel afraid to disclose her HIV-positive status, she in effect increases her child?’s vulnerability to infection.

The full report can be downloaded on the righthand side of this page