Public Agenda (Accra)

Ghana: Marriage is Nursery for HIV/Aids

Accounts by women from low income backgrounds indicate that marriage has become "a high transmission" ground for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), according to a study commissioned by the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre (GSHRDC).

The researchers, sociologists Betty Akumatey and Akosua Adarkwah, report that more married women are contracting the HIV from their partners owing to one or more risk factors including domestic violence, status disclosure and widow inheritance.

The researchers also name lack of sexual knowledge, acceptance of male promiscuity within the confines of marriage, polygyny, sex as a woman's marital obligation, infertility as a woman's problem, and choice of marital partner as the other risk factors.

"Marriage is like a high transmission area for HIV and a lot of women are at risk," said lead researcher, Akumatey, when she presented an overview of the study report titled "Gender Norms, Domestic Violence and Women's Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS" at last week's launch in Accra.

Their report paints a picture of a chain-of-infections arising out of the re-marrying of widows whose deceased spouses died from HIV/AIDS without disclosing their status when they were alive.

For instance, a 34-year-old widowed Krobo woman told the researchers that "Talking about the sickness, I had not even heard about it before...till I became sick. I did not know that my husband's sickness was HIV till he died and a friend came to tell me. But by that point, I had already gone to marry someone else...So I became sick and went to hospital and then found out that I had HIV...in fact the man [her new husband] run away because he was afraid."

Dorcas Coker-Appiah, Executive Director of GSHRDC, said the study was commissioned in 2006 to look at the links between gender, violence and HIV/AIDS.

The study sought to document women's experiences in acquiring HIV/AIDS; determine the extent to which gender based violence or other types of abuses or neglect of women's rights is a factor in the infection rate among women; determine the extent to which other social issues affected the infection rate; examine the impact their status is having on them and their families, among others.

The researchers conducted 389 interviews in the first half of 2006 with women living in Aflao, Bawku, Bolga, Hohoe, Koforidua, Mankesim, Obuasi and Tema. They also conducted four focus group discussions in late July and early August 2007 in Accra, Bawku, Obuasi and Techiman. Participants were aged between 10 and 89 and were of Christian, Moslem, African Traditional and other undisclosed religious backgrounds. 141 of the respondents were married, 119 widowed, 31 divorced, 52 cohabiting, 11 separated and 35 never married.

Presenting an overview, Akumatey, pointed out that the study was qualitative in nature and the 389 participants were purposively sampled; thus the findings could not be generalized to all women in Ghana.

"We sampled women of different ethnic backgrounds living with HIV/AIDS who attended AIDS support groups. Our findings are therefore based in that they reflect the reality of life for women who join these associations for the benefits that they provide, a fair mount of which is material," She said.

Also, "The stories of women from middle and high income backgrounds are thus missing from this work."

The report portrayed a sense of acceptance of male promiscuity within the confines of marriage. A 48-year old Krobo woman told the researchers that "As for men you know that no matter what, they still have affairs." A 40-year old Bono said, "My sister, it is a very common trend; they will prefer to have concubines rather than marry them in addition to their wives."

The report recommends the intensification of national efforts in dealing with stigmatization and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs). It also suggests that more efforts be put into voluntary testing as is currently being done.

"As a preventive strategy we are also advocating for the passage of a law against widowhood inheritance or the customary practice of replacing a deceased wife with a sister, to safeguard the interest of women especially, but men as well."


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  • upliftdarace_144
    Sep 18 2009, 10:22

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    *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ************************************************************ Many Of You Are Fulfilling Prophecy In A Sad, Foolish, Naïve Way. REVELATIONS 18 :23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in you; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in you: for your merchants were the great men of the earth; for by your SORCERIES were all nations TRICKED .. AZT is the star of the AIDS death show..and many doctors are being tricked and bribed by the $$$$ !!!!

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