Sudanese women carry a double burden. Special report: women and HIV
Taha, S.I.
Aids Analysis Africa 5(4): 12
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 1016-8974 PMID: 12289850 Document Number: 291758
Women and girls in the Sudan face considerable burdens. Maternal mortality is high (655/100,000 live births). Less than 50% of girls attend primary school. Only 20% attend secondary school. 88% of women cannot read or write. 8.8% of all women 15-19 years old have children. About 80% of the population live in rural areas. Droughts, floods, and plagues trouble the agriculture-based economy. Poverty burdens women at a rate two times that of men. Political unrest and civil war in the south have made widows of many women and orphans of many children. Girls work from a very early age. Women must work with their husbands in the fields or have an alternative source of income. Girls from a low-income family, who are the eldest daughters, or who have younger sisters and brothers must work to feed and clothe the family and to pay school fees. Many women go to Khartoum to find a better life, but few jobs exist, even if the women are well educated. Some women as young as 12 years old sell tea in the street, work as maids for the privileged, or work as sex workers. Some women form groups with an older woman serving as their leader. She promises to protect the women in her group from hunger. Yet, she cannot defend them against HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases. Any woman arrested for soliciting clients may serve 2-3 months in prison. The government has a program for women prisoners informing them about HIV/AIDS and providing them new skills. The IEC (information, education, and communication) coordinator for HIV/AIDS in the Ministry of Health has set up this special program which provides religious advice and handicrafts. The program also shows women prisoners videos on transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS.