South Africa has the biggest HIV epidemic in the world and the HIV rates among youth are especially alarming. In 2016 there were 110 000 new cases of HIV among 15 to 24-year-olds. The aim of this study is to describe and analyse perceptions of HIV and HIV prevention among Xhosa youth in the township of Langa, Cape Town. In order to study this, I focus on the organisation loveLife and their employed peer educators called groundBREAKERs (gBs). To gain knowledge on what fuels the HIV epidemic in this setting I will examine their thoughts and notions of HIV/AIDS, sexuality and sexual behaviour in relation to the information that is available to them. Examining the socio-cultural context of HIV/AIDS is important to understand the spread and why HIV is not declining sufficiently in response to HIV preventative efforts. This thesis is based on ten weeks of fieldwork at loveLife’s Y-Centre in Langa. The material was gathered through semi-structured interviews and participant observation. To analyse the drivers for the spread of HIV among Xhosa youth an analytical tool of gender roles, with a main focus on masculinity, has been utilized.

Heterosexual adult men have been a neglected population that is at risk for HIV infection. In an era burdened by the devastation caused by HIV, it is alarming that risky sexual behavior continues to be a problem among heterosexuals. Heterosexual sexual behavior has contributed to a growing trend of HIV transmission in the Caribbean where the average prevalence in the adult population is 5%. Despite the availability of condoms and HIV prevention efforts of many Caribbean public health departments to reduce the spread of the disease, there appears to be barriers to safer sex practices. Guided by the theory of planned behavior, a descriptive correlational design was used with 185 Bahamian men ages 18 years and older to (a) examine the relationships among select demographics, masculine ideology, condom attitudes, self-efficacy for condom use, and safer sex behaviors; and (b) identify select predictors of condom use among Bahamian men. Data were collected using four standardized instruments and a demographic questionnaire. The results of this study suggest that masculine ideology, condom attitudes, and condom use self-efficacy are important in explaining 33% variance in safer sex behaviors among Bahamian men. Income (β = -.15, p < .01), masculine ideology (β = -.24, p < .01), condom attitudes, (β = .36, p < .01), and condom use self-efficacy (β = .1, p < .01) were significantly associated with safer sex behaviors. The empirical knowledge obtained from this study will be used to provide a rationale for nurses and policy makers to design and conduct culturally sensitive interventions with an aim of achieving an increase in safer sex behaviors among Bahamian men.