Syftet med föreliggande studie var att beskriva hur tanzaniska kvinnor upplever möjligheten att skydda sig mot HIV/AIDS. Intervjuer genomfördes med 16 HIV-positiva kvinnor som analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Två kategorier framkom som påverkade de tanzaniska kvinnornas upplevda möjlighet att skydda sig mot HIV/AIDS: social utsatthet samt existentiell utsatthet. Dessa utgör tillsammans det övergripande temat: kvinnans underkastelse i en kultur präglad av manliga värderingar. Studien visade att kvinnans möjlighet att skydda sig mot HIV/AIDS begränsades av mannens utomäktenskapliga relationer och önskan att bilda familj samt kvinnans underordnade ställning. Även bristande äganderätt och att tvingas prostituera sig hade negativ inverkan på möjligheten att undvika att smittas. En konklusion av studien var att kvinnans sexuella beteende och risker för att smittas med HIV/AIDS formas i ett samhälle där normer och värderingar styr den ojämlika makten mellan könen. Dessa normer och värderingar tvingar kvinnan till underkastelse och försvårar möjligheten att bestämma över sin egen sexualitet. Framtida preventioner ska därför inte bara rikta sig till kvinnan då kvinnans sårbarhet att smittas med HIV/AIDS i stor utsträckning styrs av manligt beteende. Av intresse hade därför varit att studera mannens attityder till kvinnan, sitt eget riskbeteende och sårbarheten att smittas med HIV/AIDS.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Psychology, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 213-232).

This research explores the role of al-Hakkamat rural women poets in the context of armed conflict in Darfur, from 1980s to 2006. Utilising QSR NVivo7 software, the study analyses and interprets qualitatively collected data in the light of the posed research questions. Processes and attributes leading to the identification of al-Hakkamah, such as her singing and composing talents, are explored - from identifying and nurturing to fully constructing her role as a folk singer and agitator as well as a powerful social actor. Her nurtured personal and social identities reconstruct for her gender roles that are found to be both feared and revered by the community and appropriated by the government. She is found to respond effectively to situations ranging from gallantry (lauding), solidarity (lobbying) to downright belligerency (inciting). These roles exhibit robust and proactive gender roles and power relations in Darfur that enable women, not without historical precedence, to exercise their own identity, agency and political influence in an otherwise overwhelmingly patriarchal society. The study also reveals that the conflict of Darfur is rooted in the history of the neopatrimonial domestic politics pursued by the riverine ruling elites, marked by systemic failure to manage resource issues equitably between tribal and ethnic entities in Darfur. In such circumstances, al-Hakkamat agency is either volunteered or enlisted in the attempt to secure an advantage. In either case her agency is verifiably seen to bolster the hypothesis that rural women in Darfur exercise more power than their counterparts in rural northern Sudan.

This thesis tries to explore the effects of socio-economic status, gender and generation of Turkish migrants living in Berlin on their participation into transnational social fields established between Berlin and Turkey. In addition to this, evaluating transnational approaches used in international migration studies critically and acquiring a critical transnational perspective in the context of global capitalism are also in the interest areas of this study. This study is based on a qualitative field research conducted with 30 Turkish migrants in Berlin in 2006. This study maintains that, as well as global restructuring of global capitalism, new technological advances and nation state policies, migrants&rsquo / socio-economic status, gender and generation differences are vital elements to understand the way and content of transnational social fields in daily life of migrants. This study concludes that, apart from being liberatory, nation- state- based inequalities are reproduced in transnational social fields in macro and micro levels as dependent on migrants&rsquo / socio economic status, gender and generation differences.

Adolescents engage in a range of risk behaviors during their transition from childhood to adulthood. Identifying and understanding interpersonal and socio-environmental factors that may influence risk-taking is imperative in order to meet the Healthy People 2020 goals of reducing the incidence of unintended pregnancies, HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections among youth. The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in the predictors of HIV risk behaviors among South Florida youth. More specifically, this study examined how protective factors, risk factors, and health risk behaviors, derived from a guiding framework using the Theory of Problem Behavior and Theory of Gender and Power, were associated with HIV risk behavior. A secondary analysis of 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data sets from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach school districts tested hypotheses for factors associated with HIV risk behaviors. The sample consisted of 5,869 high school students (mean age 16.1 years), with 69% identifying as Black or Hispanic. Logistic regression analyses revealed gender differences in the predictors of HIV risk behavior. An increase in the health risk behaviors was related to an increase in the odds that a student would engage in HIV risk behavior. An increase in risk factors was also found to significantly predict an increase in the odds of HIV risk behavior, but only in females. Also, the probability of participation in HIV risk behavior increased with grade level. Post-hoc analyses identified recent sexual activity (past 3 months) as the strongest predictor of condom nonuse and having four or more sexual partners for both genders. The strongest predictors of having sex under the influence of drugs/alcohol were alcohol use in both genders, marijuana use in females, and physical fighting in males. Gender differences in the predictors of unprotected sex, multiple sexual partners, and having sex under the influence were also found. Additional studies are warranted to understand the gender differences in predictors of HIV risk behavior among youth in order to better inform prevention programming and policy, as well as meet the national Healthy People 2020 goals.

Since 1999 Colombia has experienced dramatic increases in emigration, particularly the emigration of women towards the U.S. as fiancées of U.S. citizens or residents. Parallel to this trend is the increased number of websites facilitating these Colombian-American matches. This dissertation investigates the agency of Colombian women and American men who pursue romantic courtship through the services of International Marriage Brokers (IMBs) from the “Gendered Geographies of Power” (GGP) framework of analysis. It examines how both groups’ social locations, their positioning in multiple axes of differentiation including gender, nationality and social class, affects how and why they exert their agency across and within different geographic scales. Most importantly, it investigates the role the imagination plays (imagination work) in both men and women’s agency, an aspect of the GGP framework that has been under-researched and theorized to date. The research also finds that this imagination work is promoted and cultivated in deeply gendered ways by IMBs seeking to profit off this transnational courtship. Employing data collected via interviews and content analysis of IMBs’ websites, the dissertation analyzes comparatively the expectations each group (women, men and IMBs) bring to their imagination work and experiences of the courtship marketplace. A central question posed and answered in the dissertation is “What do women and men courting each other in cyberspace seek and do they find it?” The dissertation finds that the men seek “traditional” women and the women seek “liberated” less “macho” men. Ironically, the men find Colombian women who are among the most “liberated” women in their homeland but who downplay this aspect of themselves in order to strategically find a more modern man and migrate abroad where they expect to find greater personal and professional opportunities.

Twenty five years after AIDS was first scientifically described, the disease continues to take its toll on the human population. HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects marginalized groups such as poor, underserved, minority populations. In the United States, Blacks become infected with and die from HIV/AIDS more than any other ethnic or racial group. Despite a vast body of literature on HIV/AIDS, little research has focused on black heterosexual men and even fewer studies have explored the context of risk among subgroups of black men. Using qualitative research methods and a socio-ecological framework, this study explored the intrapersonal, socio-cultural, and behavioral factors that influence sexual behaviors in ethnic subgroups of black men who identify as heterosexual. Further, the study examined black women's perceptions of the sexual behaviors of black men. Conducted in a metropolitan area in Southwest Florida, the study consisted of two phases: 1) semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted among U.S.-born (N=15) and Haitian-born (N=14) heterosexual men who are 18 years and older and have lived in the U.S. for at least 3 years. 2) Using focus group methodology, phase 2 explored black women's (N=23) perceptions of black male sexual behaviors. Study findings have significant implications for public health education, research and practice. Findings reveal that while Haitian-born and U.S.-born men have high levels of knowledge about HIV, they also ascribe to HIV conspiracy beliefs and practice high risk sexual behaviors such as unprotected sex and partner concurrency. Results show that black men's sexual behaviors are influenced by socio-ecological factors such as family norms, hip-hop culture and religious beliefs. Female study participants perceived factors such as masculine ideologies, socialization, and the male-to-female ratio imbalance as critical influences on male sexual behaviors. While intrapersonal approaches are important to address HIV risk behaviors, ecological frameworks are necessary to inform the development of HIV prevention programs that address the socio-ecological factors that create an environment of risk. This inquiry underscores cultural and gender differences in the conceptualization of HIV/AIDS. Findings have implications for HIV prevention and demonstrate the need for gender-specific and culturally relevant HIV prevention approaches for U.S.-born and Haitian-born blacks.

Sexual harassment is a significant problem in school despite policies and guidelines designed to combat the issue. The aim of this study is to illustrate, through feminist theory, how gender and power structures affect school counselors in their work to prevent sexual harassment. With the use of qualitative method we have collected our material through focus group interview with school counselors working at junior high schools. Subsequently, we analyzed the material by using narrative content analysis, and created a collective narrative by combining the school counselors stories. The theories we use include structural theory, feminist theory, and the concept of hard and soft repression. Our results show that school counselors have a structural understanding of sexual harassment, but they face different kinds of resistance in their work to combat the issue: including resistance from themselves, from the organisation, and from society as a whole. Structural understanding is paramount to understanding the importance of a preemptive approach.

This research explores the role of al-Hakkamat rural women poets in the context of armed conflict in Darfur, from 1980s to 2006. Utilising QSR NVivo7 software, the study analyses and interprets qualitatively collected data in the light of the posed research questions. Processes and attributes leading to the identification of al-Hakkamah, such as her singing and composing talents, are explored - from identifying and nurturing to fully constructing her role as a folk singer and agitator as well as a powerful social actor. Her nurtured personal and social identities reconstruct for her gender roles that are found to be both feared and revered by the community and appropriated by the government. She is found to respond effectively to situations ranging from gallantry (lauding), solidarity (lobbying) to downright belligerency (inciting). These roles exhibit robust and proactive gender roles and power relations in Darfur that enable women, not without historical precedence, to exercise their own identity, agency and political influence in an otherwise overwhelmingly patriarchal society. The study also reveals that the conflict of Darfur is rooted in the history of the neopatrimonial domestic politics pursued by the riverine ruling elites, marked by systemic failure to manage resource issues equitably between tribal and ethnic entities in Darfur. In such circumstances, al-Hakkamat agency is either volunteered or enlisted in the attempt to secure an advantage. In either case her agency is verifiably seen to bolster the hypothesis that rural women in Darfur exercise more power than their counterparts in rural northern Sudan. / Gordon Memorial College Trust Fund

<p>The first aim of this work has been to analyse and understand the ways in which a group of ANC-women politicians reason about bridewealth/<i>lobola</i> – an institution about which they express differing views, in particular about whether or not it is oppressive to women. The main body of the empirical material is based on 27 interviews conducted in South Africa in the period 1996-1998. </p><p>One finding of the study is that there are <i>explicit defining</i> discourses on <i>lobola </i>as well as more <i>implicitly </i>expressed understandings. The explicit discourses make a distinction between ’good <i>lobola</i>’ – which is expressed in a family-related discourse as ’a bond between families’ – and ’bad <i>lobola</i>’ which is expressed in, for instance, an economic discourse about ’the purchase of women’. The family-related discourse is interpreted as part of a discursive strategy to create <i>spaces for action</i> with respect to relations of gender-related power. (Re)definitions of <i>lobola</i> may be used not only to counter men’s abuse of monetary <i>lobola</i> but also to counter ’traditional’ gender meanings associated with <i>lobola</i>. Furthermore, explicit discourses on <i>lobola</i> are interpreted as a ‘political discourse’ which is formed both in relation to pragmatic ‘political realities’ but also in relation to hegemonic Western discourses. The political discourse on <i>lobola</i> in connection with ‘African identity’ constitutes a discursive strategy to provide <i>discursive space</i> in order for ’Africans’ to be able to (re)interpret a cherished but also controversial institution. </p><p>A second aim of the study has been of a self-reflexive character. It consitutes a critique of a ‘doing gender’ theoretical perspective as well as an attempt to transcend the ‘actor/structure dichotomy’ in sociological analysis. </p>