0.1 Hiv-aids basics for teachers  (Page 3/3)

Wife abuse is widespread. In some countries more than 40% of women have been assaulted by their partners (119). Gender-basedviolence is closely linked to HIV/AIDS (220). In Rwanda, for example, HIV-positive women with an HIV-positive partner were more likely to reportsexual coercion in their relationship than were women without HIV (380). In Tanzania partner violence was 10 times higher among young HIV-positivewomen than HIV-negative women (220). Many women do not dare even to bring up the topic of condoms for protection against HIV infection for fear that theywill be physically abused (381).

Marriage Practices

In many cultures, the premium placed on having children often leads to childhood marriage and early childbearing. Girlsas young as age 10 are given to older men in marriage in order to cement friendships and economic ties between families. When girls are married toolder men, they can be vulnerable to HIV infection because their husbands usually have already had a number of sexual partners. Social, political,and religious barriers often hide young wives from the world (423), while their husbands frequently have other sexual partners (12).

Polygyny, the practice of a man having multiple wives, occurs in some countries. In Africa, when the husband seeks a new, oftenyounger, wife, he may have sexual contact with a number of women in the process and thus risk bringing HIV home (7, 12, 41). In some cultures, wifeinheritance is practiced - a tradition in which a wife is given to her brother-in-law upon her husband's death. Thus, either partner can be atrisk of HIV infection if the other is infected. Younger widows are at particular risk because they are more likely to seek and be sought by othersex partners (6, 277, 321).

In some societies payment of bridal dowry is necessary when a man and woman marry. In parts of Africa the man pays the dowry to thewoman's family. Once the marriage is sealed with the dowry, the woman is considered "paid for" and often cannot leave her husband, should maritalproblems ensue. Even if her husband's behavior places her at risk of HIV infection, the woman may not be able to protect herself (119).

Rites of Passage

Cultural rites of passage from childhood into adulthood, although traditionally serving to unite communities, canincrease risks for HIV. For example, traditional male or female circumcisions are sometimes carried out using unsterilized equipment.Researchers think that male circumcision reduces risks for HIV transmission by removing part of the foreskin that is particularlyvulnerable to HIV. In some communities, however, circumcision ceremonies often are accompanied by post-initiation sexual experimentation, whichincreases risks for HIV (174, 350). For example, among the Maasai of East Africa the relationship among male peers is so close that, aftercircumcision, the initiates share wives and girlfriends.

Sexual Practices

Some sexual practices such as dry sex-the insertion of foreign objects to dry the vagina or to make it tighter -can cause cuts andscratches that create openings for HIV to pass through (321). Other practices, such as virginity testing of women, may place such a high premiumon chastity before marriage that unmarried women practice anal sex instead, putting themselves at even greater risk for HIV/AIDS than if theyhad vaginal sex (341).

Assignment 1 - your context and community

We would like you to describe the challenges and opportunities facing you and your school in terms of HIV-AIDS Education, byproviding us with information.

There are FOUR ways in which you can send your responses to your HIV-AIDS Mentor.

• Copy and paste (or retype) the questions to a file and send them to your instructor via email. The address is:hiv@teacherswithoutborders.org
• Upload the file to your Personal File Storage. To do so, save this as a Word file (doc) or a txt file (txt). When you log on as a Learner to theHIV-AIDS for Educators course, you'll see a place where you can upload files to your instructor. If you need more instructions about this, please click on Outline and view the section: "How To Use Your PersonalFile Storage." Assignment 1: Your Context and Community
• Send it to an online survey for us to use as research. Click here for the online link to the online survey.
• You can send the survey in the post to the following address:

HIV-AIDS Mentor

Teachers Without Borders

2880 74th Avenue, S.E.

Mercer Island, WA 98040

U.S.A.

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HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS for Assignment 1 - Your Context and Community

Please describe the challenges and opportunities facing you and your school in terms of HIV-AIDS Education, by providing us withinformation.

• What, if any, HIV-AIDS education takes place? Describe the curriculum in general terms, along with any points of view ororientation the school or community wishes to emphasize. On the subject of condoms, for example (described in more detail later on inthis course), some schools stress condom use; others avoid the subject; still others are against it. We are not asking for a point ofview with which we agree - just the truth.
• What are the incentives to conduct HIV-AIDS education?
• What are the obstacles to conducting HIV-AIDS education?
• Is there a voluntary HIV-AIDS testing facility near by? If so, are the tests free? If not, how much do they cost? Is there fear associated withHIV-AIDS testing? Is there stigma associated with HIV-AIDS testing?
• If young people are tested positive, do they have a place to go for treatment? If there is a place, is it adequate? Describe what causessome people to go and what causes others not to go.

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This is the last page of this section. To get to the next section, you MUST use the "Outline" button and choose the next topic called"Guidelines for the Surveys" - written in black - and click on it in order to get to it.)