3.16 Experiences in carrying out research in the field/ Africa Centre
3.17.3 Purpose
The intervention aims to develop awareness among women in sexual
"...He only had liver damage, he was not infected. I am not infected because...
we had a period of four years not sleeping together".
These statements show lack of understanding of the length of period HIV lie dormant before progressing to AIDS. The expression also shows women's ignorance of co-morbidity, as the wife believed that death of her husband was only due to liver problem. Based on this a decision was made that women need in-depth education on HIV/AIDS epidemic.
3.17.4.3 Module 3: Gender and Health
Society expects males and females to behave in a certain way. It prescribes how they should behave, which results in women being subservient to men. As a result women, have no decision-making powers in sexual matters. This, with the idea of masculinity which allows more than one partner for men, makes women vulnerable to get HIV infection from their male partners. This makes HIV/AIDS both a social issue and a health issue. One of the participants during the focus group discussion said, "She becomes just like a sister to her own husband and the younger wives call her "mama" The husband does not visit her anymore. That is why the older women have 'amashende' (extra-marital partners)".
The topics in this module include the explanation of gender as a concept, gender equality, gender equity, gender roles, sex role stereotypes and how these are reinforced. The modules on the anatomy of female genitalia will compliment this
module so that a better understanding of how females easily get infected with sexually transmitted infections in comparison to men can be provided. The above information and exercises provided in the module and discussions in other modules will help women understand the gender and health link (HIV/AIDS- gender link) and therefore empower them to protect themselves from risky sexual behaviour.
Over and above the content of these discussions, the module will help women understand their situation and so accord them knowledge of how to cope with their situation so that they do not become victims of sexual exploitation by their sexual partners. Interviewed on participant said, "...When married educated and employed women see this (exploitation), they say that they will never get married because emzini kuyahlushekwa (women are ill-treated in marriage)" Mothers-in- law were pointed out as part of agents that perpetuate the married younger women's situation.
3.17.4.4 Module 4: Women's Reproductive Rights
In the Bill of Rights, the South African Constitution recognizes women's rights as basic human rights. Though women know that they have rights, they do not know exactly what these rights are. Even if they have a glimpse of what these are, they are not able to exercise them. The module will provide women with knowledge about their rights and will also empower them to exercise these rights.
Regarding this, one of the participants said, "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?"
In the study younger women showed that they knew that they had rights, but also showed that they had no voice and were expected to be submissive to their husbands. Knowing and exercising their one's rights is part of the concept of life skills. It assumes that having access to the resources and power, people may be able to change their lives (Boler andAggleton, 2005). Thus educating women on their reproductive rights and how to exercise them will empower them with knowledge and skills they need.
3.17.4.5 Module 5: Life Skills Development (Communication and Assertiveness Skills)
It has been highlighted above that women lack the skills to communicate with their sexual partners in sex-related matters. They are not assertive enough to negotiate safer sex with men. As illustrated in Chapter 4, the study showed that women cannot communicate sexual matters directly with their husbands. They usually communicated through their mothers-in-law. It was decided that developing a module that would incapacitate women on sexual negotiation and communication skills will enable them to discuss sexually related problems. In turn this skill could empower then to avoid becoming infected with STIs and HIV.
3.17.4.6: Module 6: Economic skills development
From the study, poverty emerged as one of the factors that drive women to engage in extra-marital relationships. Boler and Aggleton (2005: 9) contend that if one of the goals is to reduce poverty, or gender inequalities, then using the HIV platform is a useful tool. This corresponds with one of the strategies pointed out by participants that, what will enable them to become economically independent (so that they do not engage in practices that make them vulnerable to contacting HIV infection), would be development of economic skills. It is necessary to empower married women, so that they do not depend entirely on their husbands.
They need training in economic skills. This need was substantiated by the following excerpt from the participants, "We are engaged in economic projects...but this ends nowhere as we buy food with the income".
Although women engage in income generating projects, these are just enough for subsistence and so they remain poor and economically dependent on men.
This module will help address the economic problem by providing necessary skills.
The facilitator is required to arrange for a specialist in economic development to come and address the participants and educate them on how to start their own small businesses, how to raise funds and how to enter into the labour market. It is only when women have acquired these skills that they will be able to make
their own decisions regarding sexual matters and be able to fight against being infected by men with HIV/AIDS.
3.17.5 Method of teaching
Women are social beings who "live in a complex web of social and cultural interactions, which frame their decisions and actions" (Boler and Aggleton, 2005:7). This means that there is a need to take local context into account as behaviour change is influenced by combination of factors including the interaction with others. This ideology strengthens the notion of the study that life skills training and AIDS education is provided to a group of women as their self identity occurs in a collectivity; within a family or community (Boler and Aggleton, 2005:7).
These two authors further contend that, in order to conduct life skills training, participatory methods of teaching are more relevant, as they would make participants responsive, raising questions rather than providing clear cut answers. They would also be challenged to find new ways of relating to one another and to their situations (Boler and Aggleton (2005:4). Based on this evidence, the researcher selected the participatory teaching methods to be used for training on the intervention - HIV/ AIDS education and life skills training (Van
Dyk, 2005: 156).
Following are the participatory teaching methods to be used:
• Open discussions
• Exercises
• Group work
• Case studies
• Role plays
• Story telling and songs
3.17.6 Teaching medium
There was no specific indication that women who are highly educated, and professional are not affected by the socio-cultural, political and economic factors revealed in this study. It is therefore assumed that they are also affected by same factors. The intervention can thus be used with all classes of women from the local Zulu ethnic group. This will mean that the Zulu language can be used to conduct workshops. The use of Zulu will depend on the group preference of the media.
3.17.7 Monitoring progress
The use of the intervention tool can be evaluated by use of group discussions with the facilitators and participants. The effectiveness of the training can be assessed through interviews with course participants and the evaluation tool issued to the participants at the end of each session. Where the participants are illiterate, a round of verbal expressions will be used, with the facilitator posing relevant questions and probes.
3.18 Conclusion
The chapter gave an elaborate picture of the methodology adopted in data collection for the study. Data collection was done over a period of 8 months; from December 2005 to May 2006. This is a qualitative study, descriptive in nature
and of an ethnographic design to study the cultural practices of married wives of husbands in migrant labour. The study was conducted in Northern KwaZulu- Natal in the DSA of Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies. Systematic sampling was used by selecting every 5th homestead from the pool of homesteads in the ACDS. Fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted with 5 unemployed married women, 5 employed women and 5 key informants over the age of 55 who were selected for their personal experiences as wives/widows of migrant men and their observations of the younger generation of women married to migrant men. Five focus group discussions were conducted one of which comprised a group of unmarried women in order to give an objective account the sexual practices of married women while their husbands are away. Data was tape recorded, transcribed and translated before storage. Vignettes and field notes were also used as methods of data collection and means of triangulation to ensure accuracy of data obtained.
Based on the data collected, an intervention would be developed, as one of the study objectives. The intervention aimed to empower women with life skills to protect themselves from the vulnerable situation they are placed in by their partners.
CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS