The focus of this thesis is to look at breastfeeding patterns in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa in relation to HIV infected women, who as mothers may, transmit the HIV virus to their child. It seeks to understand in depth the social context of HIV and AIDS in the time of the AIDS pandemic looking at gender culture; powerlessness of women in households in society. These dynamics occurring at such a crucial time and moment of this spiral explosive epidemic reflects a more broader concerted effort to understand and find solutions. This study emerges from a larger research project conducted under the auspices of the Medical Research Council, which was examining the transmission rates of HIV infection in babies born to HIV positive woman for a period of six months, on breastfeeding having given these women nevirapine as well. The study was HIVNET 023, which looked at the use of NVP that was given to breastfed infants in order to reduce MTCT of HIV, Phase 1,11 Study. This work was conducted from 2000 and completed in 2001. This thesis seeks to further explore challenges experienced by these breastfeeding HIV positive women in the public domain (i.e. in the clinics, hospitals as well as in communities), and how these challenges impinge in their daily lives as women. Issues of gender inequality, the social context of culture in the midst of a health crisis, and suggestions for change in the context of clinical practice, make up the bulk of the thesis argument. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2003.

My focus in this research study is the understanding that young Indian women have of risky sexual behaviour within the context of HIV and AIDS. The main objective of this study is to understand how young Indian women perceive themselves as sexual beings and how aware they are about the HIV and AIDS virus. The influencing factors in my embarking on a study of this nature are two-fold. Firstly, the literature on sexuality of Indian women is limited. According to Bhana and Pattman (2008) the Indian community is not regarded as being problematic therefore not much is known or done with regard to Indian sexualities. Secondly my interest in conducting this research and focusing on young Indian women is that there now appears to be an increase in the number of young Indian women who are indulging in risky sexual behaviour at very early stages in their lives. I have purposefully selected six young Indian women based on their age group which is between 16 - 17, as well as from a specific context which is a secondary school in Phoenix. The sample group is not fully representative of all 16 and 17 year olds but has the potential to provide invaluable information and insight into how young women develop their sexual identities especially within the context of HIV and AIDS. The qualitative research method approach was employed as it provided me with the opportunity to comprehend how these young women understand sexual risk and the reasons why they would engage in risky sexual behaviour. The research design employed was a focus group interview with a 90 minute interactive session as well as individual interviews for each participant which lasted about 60 minutes. My findings reveal that Indian women are agentic and that there are a number of factors that influence and contribute towards an increase in the number of Indian women who are engaging in risky sexual behaviour and becoming sexually active at ages that do not prepare them for the negative consequences of risky sexual behaviour. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 1999. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 272 p. : ill., maps. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 214-236).

This study seeks to investigate the challenges facing informal sector micro-enterprises in Newlands West, using the case study of female owned home-based dress making enterprises in the South West of Durban. The investigation, which aims at establishing the historical background to these micro-enterprises, their main activities and their viability, and the challenges they are facing, will be conducted in the context of the broader debate both in South Africa (SA) and globally about the informal sector, to which micro-enterprises would arguably belong. This study also aims to contribute towards research and future policy developments in the field of home-based enterprises. Many of these workers have set-up home-based micro-enterprises as a means of creating employment in order to sustain their livelihoods. The purpose of this study is thus to highlight the potential of these micro-enterprises to create employment and alleviate poverty. The qualitative research method is used in this study. In-depth, semi-structured interviews using purposive sampling were conducted with ten owner-managers. Data was analysed using the constant comparative method of analysis. The conclusion drawn from this study was that these micro-enterprises received hardly any support from the local municipality or provincial government to grow their businesses. The study also found that there is potential for these owner-managers, with appropriate state support, to grow their businesses, make greater profits and create jobs. Some of the recommendations offered in this study include: a system of mentorship should be established to assist informal micro-enterprise owners improve their business acumen. They should be given enterprise support as none of the dressmakers underwent any form of business training. There should be development of the following skills: Financial management, production management, technical training, marketing and sales and understanding the regulatory environment. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

My study is an exploration of four women educators' experiences of living "openly" with HIV in their respective workplaces. All four women were from the different geographical demarcations ofthe Ethekweni region. I used in-depth interviews , as outlined by Seidman (1999), to learn more about the experiences of the four women. The key findings of my study were (l) the evidence of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV, (2) the inclusion of people living with HIV, shown by employers and colleagues and (3) the emergence of a new generation that is better informed, receptive and supporti ve of people living with HIV. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Kwazulu-Natal, 2005.

All over the world HIV/ AIDS has created a new stigma and discrimination, bigotry and ignorance that have resulted in a new class of outcasts. AIDS 2000 will break the silence on this affront to human dignity. This was the theme of the XIII Annual AIDS Conference held in Durban in 2000. Fours years later, there is little evidence of this reality. There are communities of people living with HIV/ AIDS that still live lives cloaked in secrecy. HIV/ AIDS is not losing momentum. HIV/ AIDS has infected 50 million, and killed 16 million since the epidemic began (The Mercury,19 May 2000). In Africa, HIV positive women now outnumber infected men by two million. Recognition of the potentially devastating effects the disease could have, took place very slowly, in Africa. It is only since the middle to late nineteen eighties that a general understanding has established itself in society of how imp ortant the fight against HIV/ AIDS will be. In South Africa the dramatic transition to democracy in the early nineteen nineties meant that political considerations had to be given priority. In 1997, the KwaZulu Natal (KZN) cabinet launched an initiative to bring public attention to the effects the epidemic would have on our society. In 1999 this was followed up with the Cabinet's AIDS Challenge 2000 strategy which was to have been be funded to the extent of R20 million per year (The Mercury, 19 May 2000). HIV / AIDS has established itself at pandemic levels in the province of KZN (The Mercury, 19 May 2000). Uno fficial figures of people living with HIV/ AIDS stand at 40%. This has huge implications for education as it is stated that there will be at least 750 000 orphans- children with no parents in KZN by 2010 (The Mercury, 19 May 2000). This means that educators who are already burdened with responsibility will have to respond in direct and indirect ways to the pandemic. The researcher in this study has lived in Umhlatuzana, a suburb on the outskirts of Chatsworth for the past twenty years. I teach History and Life skills at a secondary school in Chatsworth. Since the introduction of Outcomes Based Education in 2000, HIV/ AIDS has become a part of the Life Orientation programme. My interest in HIV/ AIDS grew with the launch of the Government initiated Tirisano project - an HIV/ AIDS awareness initiative . As HIV-AIDS coordinator, my duties included teaching learners about HIV/ AIDS awareness and about the causes and prevention of HIV/ AIDS through responsible behaviour. Accordingly, I have set up a school HIV/ AIDS committee made up of both learners and staff, drafted and implemented a School AIDS Policy and held workshops at school. As the HIV/ AIDS coordinator I have attended many training workshops and seminars in and around Chatsworth. This exposure to issues concerning HIV/ AIDS, together with available literature has led me to conclude that HIV/ AIDS is still very much a taboo subject, even among so called 'enlightened educators'. Due to the scarcIty of available literature regarding Indians! living with HIV/ AIDS and according to The Mail and Guardian, because media representations and billboards depict Black, White or Coloured but no Indian repr esentations of people living with HIV/ AIDS, many Indians still think that it is someone else's disease, or 'that sickness' (02 December 2003). While stud ying the module 'Diversity and Education' at Masters level, I began to understand that being an HIV/ AIDS coordinator was much more than teaching learners about HIV / AIDS awarene ss of prevention and modes of transmission. The module 'Diversity and Education' was designed to develop a deeper understanding of the critical issues and skills required to create safe and inclusive schools for learners and educators who are living with and are affected by HIV/ AIDS. Through the Diversity and Education module I developed a raised understanding of the negative impact of HIVism on the lives of people living with HIV/ AIDS. According to Francis, HIVism refers to the negativetreatment meted out to people living with HIV/ AIDS (2004). Altho ugh the Department of Education has to be applauded in creating an awareness of the epidemic, there is concern that an important area of HIV/ AIDS has been neglected: The issues regarding human rights and HIV/ AIDS. It was especially during the Diversity and Education sessions togeth er with related literature that I discovered that globally, many women have negative experiences of living with HIV/ AIDS. An article that appeared in the Sunday Tribune, Herald (07 December 2003) prompted my research . It was a stolY of an Indian woman, Theresa Naidoo, who was HIV positive. In her story she communicates her experiences of betrayal, prejudice and discrimination. Her sto ry has inspired the research er to explore the experiences of other Indian women living with HIV/ AIDS. The researcher contac ted the Chatswo rth HIV/ AIDS coordinator, Kogie David, who is based at the Chatsworth Child and Family Welfare Centre . She coordinates the HIV/ AIDS counselors in the Chatsworth district. The researcher explained the nature of her research study and was informed that there were many women like Theresa, living with HIV/ AIDS. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

The study aims to explore women's psychosocial needs and concerns following an HIV positive diagnosis. It also seeks to understand nature and various sources of care and support that women need for learning how to live with an HIV positive diagnosis. Finally, to understand what women need from HIV/AIDS health care and social service providers. In order to achieve these aims, a sample of 12 HIV positive women age between 20 and 40 was approached and interviewed at the Centres for Disease Control Clinic (CDC) in one of the local hospital in Pietermaritzburg. A qualitative research approach using semi- structured in-depth interviews was used in the study. The findings of the study reveal that HIV positive women are still faced with a range of psychosocial needs, different to that of HIV infected men. Their main psychosocial concerns centre on the welfare of their children rather their own health. Women fear rejection from their sexual relationships and as a way of coping with this, they choose to abstain from intimate relationships. Many women receive limited support from their families, health, and social welfare systems. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

The topic of this study is “An exploration of the reasons surrounding Indian businesswomen’s involvement in home-based businesses in Shallcross, Durban”. The objective of this study was to investigate some of the reasons why Indian women choose to venture into small business. This study also explored some of the history of the Indian people of Natal (now known as KwaZulu-Natal) and briefly touched on the past and present lives of Indian women in South Africa. The informants used in this study were Indian women who owned small home-based businesses. They all reside in Shallcross where they operate their businesses from their homes. Shallcross is situated in Durban, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Their businesses consisted of various types like hair salons, catering and gift shops. All interviews with the informants were informal in nature. Informal, unstructured yet indepth interviews and life histories were used in the study to collect data. Life histories were summarized to highlight the aims and results of the study. The literature reviewed for this study focused on issues on female entrepreneurship in South Africa. The most part of the literature review paid special attention to the changing role of Indian women, the nature of small businesses and their importance in South Africa’s developing economy, female motives for entrepreneurship and the future of female entrepreneurship. The literature review process has revealed a gap in the literature regarding Indian women involved in small business, but the literature also provided greater clarity and understanding of women entrepreneurship from both historically and contemporary perspectives. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Colonial Natal has become an increasingly popular field of investigation for historians of Southern Africa over the last decade or so. This trend is not premature or " irrelevant for, although not demonstrating" the economic impact of the diamond-mining industry of the Cape, or the gold-mining industry of the Transvaal, the political " economy of nineteenth century Natal played a significant role in forming patterns of South African social and economic development, as well as attitudes towards this, not least of all in terms of labour exploitation. The history of Natal during this period has been lacking by and large in what I consider to be two important aspects. Firstly, the colony, on the whole, has been neglected by Marxist and radical historians; and secondly, the history of women in South Africa, as yet a nascent area of research in itself, has not included an attempt to date, understand the lives of those women who lived along the south-east coastal belt of Southern Africa, between the Drakensberg and the Indian Ocean. This study strives to be a preliminary step in the direction of redressing this imbalance, by offering an introductory exposition on the political economy of women in colonial Natal. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1982.

This study aimed to investigate the experiences of women living in a rural area who participate in a microfinance programme called SaveAct. Microfinance programmes have been established to assist people, financially, living on a low income. Their primary focus is women because of the high level of poverty amongst them. Microfinance programmes seek to promote entrepreneurship in order for people to start income generating activities and to be more self-sufficient. This initiative intends to empower women by making funds available to them, so that these funds can transform into something more sustainable and help them in improving their lives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 female participants from the rural areas of Richmond and Obonjaneni, KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa. A thematic analysis showed that women have experienced some change in their lives, as a result of getting access to funds and participating in SaveAct. Some of these changes included increased personal autonomy, self-confidence and business knowledge. These changes suggest that this sample of women has been empowered despite the backdrop of a patriarchal society. Women felt more in control of their lives and had gained some independence in their homes in terms of contributing to household income. Despite these changes more integrated services are still needed so that both genders are equipped with financial information as it affects the household, so that there is more equality in the household economically. More quality financial services are also needed in rural contexts in order for communities to be more knowledgeable about finances and to build businesses that will feed into the economy in the long term. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.