Resources
International
Womens Rights Action Watch
Women's
Human Rights Bibliography:
FIRE:(FEMINIST
INTERNATIONAL RADIO ENDEAVOUR)
War
Widows:
WITNESS
Rights Alert on widows in Nigeria
Publications
Widows:
Life after Death . Volume 28 2/1998 Index
on Censorship
Widowhood:
A Natural or Cultural Tragedy. Pat Okoye Nucik Publishers
Enugu. Nigeria
A
World of Widows Margaret Owen ZED Books
(1996)
Child
Widows and Daughters of Widows. In People and Planet The
Girl Child 1998
Video
Regret
to Inform
available from War Widows,
contact: [email protected]
|
There
is a special feature with video and sound - including
an interview with Margaret Owen - from the Beijing
+5 PrepCom on the FIRE--FEMINIST INTERNATIONAL
RADIO ENDEAVOUR website at http://www.fire.or.cr/indexeng.htm
|
Useful
articles
Widowhood,
remarriage and migration during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda
Ntozi,
JP. Health Transit Rev, 1997, 7 Suppl:125-44. (UI: 97421469)
Abstract:
Recently the levels of widowhood have increased
in countries of sub-Saharan Africa that are afflicted by the
HIV/AIDS epidemic. This paper reviews the cultures of several
societies in Uganda in relation to the treatment of widows.
Using a data set based on a sample of 1797 households covering
east, south and western Uganda, the study finds higher proportions
of widows than widowers. Over half of widowers compared to
one quarter of widows remarry. Reasons for remarriages of
widowers and widows are discussed. While younger widows migrated
from their late spouses' homes more than the older ones, the
pattern of the widowers shows that those in age 20-34 migrated
most. Deeper analysis indicates that widowed people who moved
away from their deceased spouses' homes did so for reasons
other than the death of their spouses. The widowers were more
likely to move than the widows and the unhealthy ones migrated
more than the healthy ones.
Traditional
practices and HIV transmission in Senegal: the example of
levirat and sororat
Sow PS; Gueye B; Sylla O; Coll-Seck AM
Dakar University, Senegal. Fax: (221)22-15-07.
Int Conf AIDS, 1996 Jul 7-12, 11:1, 339 (abstract no. Tu.C.2429)
Abstract
Issue: Traditional
practices regarding sexual behaviour remain very common in
Senegal. Despite the HIV epidemic these practices still up
to date with a risk of HIV transmission. Methods: In Africa,
marriage constitutes an essential step in the life of nearly
everyone. It consacrates the union of two partners of the
opposite sex. The practice of levirat or wife inheritance,
is a traditional form of alliance consisting of the remarriage
of a widow to one of the brothers of her deceased husband,
usually to his next youngest sibling. Sororat is an arranged
marriage which aims to redefine a matrimonial alliance by
marrying the younger sister of a deceased woman to her surviving
husband. This study carried out at the Department of Infectious
Diseases at the Dakar University Hospital poses the specific
problem of HIV transmission in the family due to traditional
socio-cultural marriage practices in Senegal such as levirat
and sororat. Results: 7 cases of levirat with an HIV-1
seropositive widow were collected from January 1991 to December
1995. Of the 7 cases, the 4 new husbands were tested after
the collaboration of the wive and their informed consent.
Despite the counseling, the 3 remaining HIV-positive wives
didn't give their consent for announcing the HIV seropositivity
to their husband. Three of the tested new husbands were HIV-positive,
contamined by their wives throught the levirat practice. All
these new husbands didn't have any HIV risk factors before
their wifes inheriting Conclusions: Aside from these practices,
the very real problem which surfaces is that of the remarriage
of a widow who is HIV-positive. These issues highlight the
difficulties of HIV prevention and counseling in Africa and
the complexities of legal and ethical questions posed by the
spread of HIV.
Language
of Publication
English
Knowledge,
attitudes and perception of AIDS in rural Senegal: relationship
to sexual behaviour and behaviour change
Author
Lagarde E; Pison G; Enel C
Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, National Museum of
Natural History, Paris, France.Source
AIDS, 1996 Mar, 10:3, 327-34
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To describe the determinants of
'at risk' sexual behaviour and perception of AIDS-related
prevention messages in rural Africa. SETTING: A rural area
in Southern Senegal. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study using a
standardized questionnaire administered by local interviewers
to 240 men and 242 women aged 15-59 years, randomly selected
among the general population. RESULTS: Twenty-eight per cent
of the sexually active men and 27% of the sexually active
women declared at least one casual sexual partner in the 12
months preceding the interview. Among these, 27% of men and
30% of women declared having used a condom in most acts of
casual intercourse. Seasonal migrants and divorced or widowed
women were more likely to declare casual sex. Causal sex was
motivated by material needs for 66% of the women who experienced
it, and those of the women who reported casual sexual intercourse
were less likely to feel at risk of AIDS [odds ratio (OR),
3.9; P = 0.01] and were more optimistic about their future
(OR, 3.6; P = 0.03). For men, the motivations explaining a
change in sexual behaviour in order to avoid HIV infection
included the perception of AIDS as a health problem (OR, 11;
P = 0.004), the perception of the disease as serious (OR,
5.4; P = 0.001) and the feeling of personal risk of becoming
HIV-infected (OR, 3.2; P = 0.02). Perceived skill in changing
one's behaviour was strongly associated with declaration of
past behaviour change for both men and women (men: OR, 3.4;
P = 0.02; women: OR, 6.3; P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Men and
women exhibit two different patterns regarding their behaviour
and perception towards AIDS. Material needs appear to be of
importance for women, whereas perception of a real threat
lead men to adopt protective behaviours. In the very area
of this study, widowed and divorced women as well as male
seasonal migrants are particularly exposed to HIV infection.
They are characterized by a higher risk behaviour, a low rate
of condom use and seldom declared any protective measures
to avoid HIV infection.
Language
of Publication
English
HIV
and AIDS-related Stigmatization, Discrimination and Denial
Prepared for UNAIDS by, Peter Aggleton,Thomas Coram Research
Unit,Institute of Education, University of London
UNAIDS/00.16E (English original June 2000)/ Joint United
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
Abstract
This
study on the three issues identified in the title with field
research in India, Uganda and Venezuela In all three countries
the seriousness of the epidemic among all, or certain sections
of, the population warranted the commissioning of such work.
Potential principal investigators from each country were subsequently
invited to prepare local research proposals based on the general
research protocol and to submit these to WHO/GPA for scientific
evaluation and approval. The approval of national authorities
and national or local ethical review committees was sought
in each case. Two studies undertaken by the Tata Institute
of Social Sciences in India (Dr Shalini Bharat, Principal
Investigator) and by TASO in Uganda (Ms Sophia Mukasa Moniko,
Principal Investigator)
were subsequently funded. With the support of UNAIDS, preparatory
work commenced in 1997. Work was completed in late 1998.
This
report brings together highlights from these investigations.
It offers:
- a
review of relevant literature;
- a
statement of research questions and methods prioritized
by each of the
- local
investigations;
- a
description of main findings from work conducted in Uganda
and India;
- a
thematic analysis of issues recurring in each study site;
and
- recommendations
for policy, programming, practice and further research.
The
following are some quotes from interviews and focus group
discussions in Uganda:
The
majority of old men think that it is women who spread AIDS
in
families.
Others think that to get AIDS one must have been promiscuous
to
others. It is (seen as) a curse on the family.
In
another focus group discussion conducted in this same site,
respondents
suggested
that:
People
would wish that a widow living with AIDS died sooner rather
than
later
so that she does not spread AIDS after she has got treatment
and
looks
healthy.
Legal
professionals interviewed as part of the study reported that:
Widows
have told us many times that, after the death of their husbands,
among
the consequences faced is ostracism, the children are taken
away
from
them, property is grabbed by the in-laws, and people mock
them
that
much...
Members
of a women's focus group conducted in Mbarara described how:
One
father-in-law sold land that belonged to his deceased son,
including
the
plot where the widowed daughter-in-law lived. She was told
to go
where
she got AIDS from!
Perhaps
in fear of punitive actions, some women in Kampala were reported
as
deserting their sick husbands before the death as a means
of avoiding reprisal
afterwards.
Men participating in a focus group conducted with people living
with
HIV/AIDS
said:
Kinship/relatives
always blame their widowed in-law for having `killed' their
son in case he dies of AIDS. Other reasons (for running away)
are
that
the widow fears the likely reprisal but also running away
is a
demonstration
of a kind of denial, not wanting to face the truth there and
then
