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Traditional beliefs stifle HIV/Aids education - study
Rutendo Mawere, The Standard (Zimbabwe)
October 17, 2004

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/read.php?st_id=783

TRADITIONAL cultures and the social roles of women and men in Zimbabwe are factors contributing to the rise of HIV and Aids cases in m The Standard ost rural communities.

A recent visit by Standardhealth to the Gosha community in Chief Chikwaka's area revealed that many parents and children are still reluctant to discuss sexual activities due to cultural beliefs.

The visit was organised by the Federation of African Media Women Zimbabwe (FAMWZ).

Commonly observed traditional practices and stereotypes are directly responsible for the rapid spread of Aids which has wreaked havoc in every sector of the community, said villagers.

It was also revealed that power dynamics in sexual relationships had resulted in women losing out on making sexually-related decisions.

Women, in most cases, cannot negotiate sex with their husbands neither can they tell them to use condoms leading to many of them contracting the virus from their spouses.

According to Gosha villagers, the condom is also stereotyped by villagers - especially men - as a device used by prostitutes. Most of the women said they were scared to ask their husbands to use condoms because they would be construed as unfaithful.

"We are unable to negotiate for safe sex as married women because if we suggest using the condom we are continuously accused of having extra marital affairs," said Mavis Chota, a villager.

Recent surveys have also shown that cultural beliefs and practices in Zimbabwe continue to support and sustain gender inequality and that "condom negotiation" has sometimes resulted in the destruction of families and the increased rate of domestic violence.

The Chikwaka visit also revealed that because many women in rural areas are not economically empowered, they therefore couldn't negotiate for safe sex for fear of breaking up families or annoying the breadwinner.

Patience Zirima of FAMWZ said "condom negotiation" had proved to be problematic especially for the rural woman whose mindset is continually shaped around cultural and societal beliefs.

Gender stereotypes have also been blamed for making men believe that they should not talk openly about sex, let alone allow the use of condoms, especially in marriages. Zimbabwean culture perceives sex as a subject whose discussion is taboo.

The villagers said most of them could not talk freely about sex with their children because that was a duty attributed to aunts and grannies in African culture.

This has resulted in secrecy surrounding sex since close-knit families and societies no longer exist resulting in the inability of aunts and grannies to perform that crucial role in society.

Gabhu Mwansa, a villager said: "Men are initiators of sex and economically advantaged than women so women do not have the power to determine where, when and how sex takes place and this has exposed them to the risk of contracting HIV/Aids.

"This has reduced women to pleasure givers who succumb to the whim of their husbands. This means that women cannot ask for sex … neither can they ask a men to wear a condom."

Another female villager said: "I wear the female condom without my husband's knowledge but there is need for us to be taught on how to properly put it on."

The villagers also expressed concern over advertising saying some advertisements, such as those promoting the use of condoms, might incite increased sexual behaviour among youths.

There were also concerns that the unmonitored distribution of family planning tablets and condoms to people of all ages increased "the rate of immorality".

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