Social constructions of gender roles, gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS in two communities of the Western Cape, South Africa
Strebel, A.; Crawford, M.; Shefer, T.; Cloete, A.; Henda, N.; Kaufman, M.; Simbayi, L.; Magome, K.; Kalichman, S.
Sahara J Journal of Social Aspects of Hiv/Aids Research Alliance 3(3): 516-528
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 1729-0376 PMID: 17601339 DOI: 10.1080/17290376.2006.9724879Document Number: 275915
A qualitative study was conducted to investigate how women and men in 2 black communities in Western Cape, South Africa, construct their gender identities and roles, and understand gender-based violence. In addition, their beliefs about the links between gender relations and HIV/AIDS risk were determined. 16 key informant interviews with members of relevant stakeholder organizations and 8 focus group discussions with community members in single-sex groups were performed . Key findings included the perception that although traditional gender roles were still very much in evidence, shifts in power between men and women were occurring. In addition, gender-based violence was regarded as a major problem throughout communities, and was seen to be fuelled by unemployment, poverty and alcohol abuse. HIV/AIDS was regarded particularly as a problem of African communities, with strong themes of stigma, discrimination and especially 'othering' evident. Developing effective HIV/AIDS interventions in these communities will require tackling the overlapping as well as the divergent constructions of gender, gender violence and HIV which emerged in the study.