CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS 4.1 Introduction
4.2.6 Experiential theme: Human rights issues
partners with whom they sleep without using condoms. Men also do this out of jealousy as one participant said, "That I was suggesting use of condoms meant
that I had a man who told me to use condoms with my husband."
This discussion shows that participants know how to prevent HIV infection mentioning condoms as means of protection. They stated, however, that they still need more teaching on AIDS and how to use condoms. They also pointed out that attitudes towards condom use is a problem as men accuse women who suggest condom of covering up their infidelity wit other men.
When asked if they were not supposed to express their feelings, as they were married, another key informant said:
(I: Interviewer; P: Participant)
P: Your only right is to be a wife, to be able to stay with him. When he did not come back home he was obviously with a girlfriend, so what?
I: What did you do in that case?
P: What is your problem? What has he taken away with him that he won't come back with? Today when a man takes this direction, a woman takes the other.
Much as these key informants felt that they had no rights in their marriages, which made them submissive to the rules of their households, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the rights that the South African Constitution has given to women. One of them pointed out that the law had become lax and that is why women do as they please, that is, they have become loose because they say they have rights. This contradicted what they felt when they were younger women, which was obvious envy that today's women have rights
On the other hand, the younger participants agreed that they had rights but also showed that they were not able to exercise them. They said they could not question their husbands if they were given little money, though they happened to know that their husbands were paid far more. They also showed unhappiness when they admitted that mothers- in- law had rights over their sons, and their sons' property as shown in the previous sections that mothers-in-law are in control.
One of the participants, aged 42 years old, a younger wife in a polygamous marriage, said that in the Zulu tradition it is a shame for a woman to visit a husband in the city when he has not invited her. She confessed that nowadays women do visit their husbands even if they are not invited. She also gave the explanation that, This starts when they are still girls. Today it is girls who visit men".
The very same participant said that she had no problem about communicating with her husband about sexual matters as expressed in the following passage:
"Even when I am having a drop (meaning an STI), as we are two in a polygamous marriage, I inform him. I should inform him because he is the one who will tell me where I should go for treatment: to the doctor, traditional healer or the clinic. We do not hide anything from each other we even bathe together".
Similarly, two other participants said that they communicated freely with their husbands about sexual matters. The demographics of these participants are that one is a Community Health Worker and the other is a participant in the Microbicide Study of Africa Centre. Their greater knowledge might enable these women to discuss sexual matters with their husbands.
The situation of married women is such that their marriages are unhappy because of the way their husbands treat them. They have no voice. Key informants expect the younger married women to be submissive like they were when they were still young married women. They even blame the South African constitutional human rights as causing married women to expect freedom that results in their promiscuity. On the other hand young married women have an
awareness of their rights but are unable to exercise them due to the culture and socialization which prevent them. It also showed that, more educated women who participated in the local population studies and women who experienced an STI in the relationship could communicate more easily on sexual matters with their husbands.
4.2.7 Experiential Theme: Health status (Morbidity and mortality) 4.2.7.1 Sub-theme: Unprotected sex leading to HIV infection
As mentioned in the above presentation of findings of this study, all the sub- themes discussed seem to contribute to married women's vulnerability to HIV infection, development of the AIDS stage and finally dying. Women engage in risky sexual behaviour without the use of condoms. They do not treat their STIs which then become an entry point to the HIV infection. This, together with a lack of knowledge of the disease's progression, causes people to ignore treating the STIs early and also going for HIV tests. Consequently their health status deteriorates quickly and opportunistic infections develop into AIDS. They therefore die quickly from AIDS.
The health status of women is a pathetic one when one examines the circumstances associated with handling illnesses which hasten morbidity leading to mortality. The above sub-themes clearly boiled down to women's involvement in unprotected sexual intercourse. This often leads to STIs which are rarely treated, developing into HIV infection. Opportunistic infections are also not
treated on time, leading to disease progressing to AIDS and death follows more quickly.
4.3 Conclusion
The chapter gave an elaborate account of the sexual practices of the wives of migrant men. This was best discussed in comparison with the previous
generation's married women as they acted as the key informants in the study.
Mixing married and unmarried women in the focus group discussions encouraged more involvement in the discussions. All the different groups that were organized gave good data that showed the actual behaviour of married women whose husbands are migrants. Tabulating data into themes and sub-themes was appropriate for illustrations, of the discussions and as such discussions of the findings will be done in the following chapter. Discussions in this chapter will provide the source of information to design the intervention as one of the study objectives.
As mentioned at the beginning of the chapter that data analysis would be through
"identification of descriptive patterns, and looking for relationships and linkages among descriptive dimensions" (Hungler, 1994: 6), experiential themes sub- themes on interviews and focus group discussions facilitated analysis. Now that these processes are completed the researcher will present her interpretations of the findings and make conclusions in the next chapter.
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS, LIMITATIONS AND