HIV risk in a group of educated urban Black African women in South Africa: Private accounts of gendered power dynamics

Abstract

This study explores HIV risk in a small group of Black African women school teachers in South Africa. We used a two-part questionnaire with inductive thematic analysis to explore their private and personal sexual attitudes, as well as their perceptions of male attitudes about sexuality. Key themes are: a desire for power over personal choices, submission to male control in sexual relationships, HIV concern, and the high value these women place on sexual relationships. Although they understood the mechanisms for HIV transmission and enjoyed a degree of financial independence, some of their efforts to avoid HIV risk in sexual relationships, as well as their efforts to communicate about sexuality, were compromised by gendered power dynamics. The results from this study also highlight some gendered strategies they use to preserve their health and relationships. We conclude that an intersectional approach best addresses the problem of preventing HIV/AIDS within an inflexible post-colonial patriarchal structure.

Keywords

Black African women in South Africa HIV risk racialized gender roles sexual relationships thematic analysis

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