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negative ripple effects in that both the families and broader communities to which prisoners are released such that they face increased risk of infection. Family members and the broader community also suffer the economic consequences of providing care and support during ill- health and in worst cases bear the psychological trauma of AIDS related deaths. In-school youth are not exempted from this deliberate structural marginalisation (Dutta, 2008). While they are recruited in schools to undergo VMMC, condoms remain a taboo, and so are partial protection messages relating to this biomedical approach to mitigating HIV incidence.
However, the likely success of reducing HIV transmission in prisons through use of condoms may be a mere gamble since sexual encounters particularly among inmates take place in complex circumstances. A case in point is that sex among prisoners often takes a coercive form where it is motivated by the will to assert power and control, mostly over weaker inmates.
Under such conditions, practice of safe sex is greatly compromised. As such, micro-abrasions during anal sex provide portals for HIV entry (Johnson, 2002). Despite this, condom access remains critical among this population segment and other key populations such as in-school youth.
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treaties adopted by the United Nations (UN) and other population services related organisations.
This section focuses on the broad efforts made through different AIDS policies implemented in Zimbabwe, particularly those serving a preventative agenda. While many of the policies were directly shaped by international declarations and treaties, some were purely home grown. An example of an indigenous initiative is the AIDS levy where 3% is deducted from individuals and corporates’ incomes to fund HIV/AIDS programmes (Duri et al., 2003).
However, this section does not seek to rehearse all the policies implemented in Zimbabwe since doing so is beyond the scope of the study.
According to the Zimbabwe Human Development Report – ZHDR (2003), Zimbabwe like other countries went through the denial, panic and acceptance continuum. There is merit in arguing that the absence of an expeditious response gave the pandemic the impetus to spread far and wide within the largely ignorant population (Chamuka, 2014). The responses were largely fragmented until 1999 when the government got out of the denial mode and formed the National AIDS Council–NAC (Chevo & Bhatasara, 2012; NAC, 1999). The same year NAC was formed, the National HIV/AIDS Policy which aims to coordinate all AIDS prevention and sexual reproductive health activities was put in place (GoZ, 1999; Muparamoto & Chigwenya, 2009).
In Zimbabwe, various ministries craft their HIV and AIDS related policies in line with the National AIDS Policy (NAP). For example, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture (MoESC, now MoPSE) relies on the NAP (Muparamoto & Chigwenya, 2009). It is important to highlight that in some cases; there are contradictions and conflicts between the country’s statutes and policy standing at ministry level (Chikovore et al., 2009; Marindo et al., 2003). As
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such, inconsistences may be held responsible for the lack of coherence in policies that the MoPSE must implement in ASRH.
In their criticism of the NAP, Muparamoto and Chigwenya (2009, p.38) argue that “the policy emphasizes abstinence among young people as the sole strategy for HIV prevention.
The policy is moralistic in tone and advocates long-term abstinence among young people.”
Similarly, the AIDS Action Plan in Schools (MoESC, 1997; UNICEF, 1997), the Reproductive Health Guidelines and Policy (MoHCW, 1998), and the National Youth Policy (1999) all view abstinence as the panacea. This is despite the fact that research has produced compelling evidence demonstrating that abstinence is difficult to sustain because vows to abstain are often broken (Johnson, 2002). Marindo and colleagues (2003, p.7) bemoan that:
What is striking is not the advocacy for abstinence per se, but rather the absence of any promotion of condom use as an alternative and complementary strategy for HIV prevention. As in other government policy documents, the unwillingness to accept that sex occurs among young unmarried people and that they need effective protection is clear.
Of all the known HIV prevention methods, abstinence is the most effective, providing 100%
protection (Johnson, 2002; Baxter & Abdool Karim, 2016). However, its dependability is not guaranteed as those who have taken vows have often, relapsed into risky sexual behaviour.
Furthermore, failure to accept that young people are sexually active is nothing more than sheer naivety. Both public discourse and key policies are replete with unrealistic expectations and perceptions insinuating that teenagers are celibate or asexual beings (Casas & Amahuda, 2009;
Chikovore et al., 2009).
There is ongoing tension in Zimbabwe between the government and religious groups who have attempted to promote adolescent well-being through abstinence vis-à-vis human rights movements and UN related NGOs who advocate for condoms, VMMC and robust
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sexuality education initiatives targeting the youth. It is important to state that condom use, or its discussion is prohibited largely as a social norm while being supported by legislation that is vague. In Zimbabwe, “[p]olicymakers and traditional and Christian leaders promote abstinence as the exclusive strategy for all young people, whereas nongovernmental organizations and the private sector promote condom use” (Marindo et al., 2003, p.1). Similarly, the Nigerian society bombards its youth with mixed messages of abstinence and protected sex to the point of creating confusion in terms of decisions regarding the path to take to remain healthy (Titiloye, Agunbiade, & Kehinde, 2009). It is important to highlight that although it is not legally stipulated, Zimbabwe is generally a Christian nation (Duri et al., 2013). As such, the church offers a critical voice that shapes policy, both the written and unwritten policy.