This paper will discuss the power differential between women and men and its role in the intersection of HIV/AIDS and intimate partner violence among women in sub-Saharan Africa. Both HIV and intimate partner violence are of tremendous public health relevance. Since its discovery over 20 years ago, HIV has been and continues to be a world health problem. Nearly 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS; about half of them are women. Fifty seven percent of the people living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa are women. HIV prevention continues to be an urgent health priority in sub-Saharan Africa and throughout developing countries around the world; yet interventions preach abstinence and safer sex practices without recognizing the sociocultural context of HIV/AIDS or of sexual behavior and practices. Traditional concepts of gender roles and the power differential intrinsic in relationships between women and men must be accounted for not only in the design of HIV interventions, but also acknowledged as risk factors for violent relationships. Suggestion of condom use by the female partner, for example, is often met with suspicion, hostility, even violence from her male partner. Intimate partner violence is researched in this paper because it is the ultimate manifestation of the gendered power differential.
This paper will critically review existing HIV interventions targeting women, explore different gender norms throughout sub-Saharan Africa and the gendered power differential as exemplified by IPV. The paper will conclude with recommendations for future public health efforts and a proposal for an intervention that addresses both public health issues.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04122006-152201 |
| Date | 26 June 2006 |
| Creators | Ahn, Eun-Young |
| Contributors | Jessica Griffin Burke, Martha Ann Terry, Emilia Lombardi |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04122006-152201/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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