READERS SPEAKOUT
THE UNITED NATIONS LOOKS AT SEXUAL ABUSE, HIV AND EDUCATION - AND ASKS FOR HELP

From: Carol Coombe, Pretoria, South Africa Email: coombe@mweb.co.za

I am preparing a report on HIV/AIDS and the education sector in South Africa for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. I have worked for more than 30 years in education management and planning in Southern Africa, and ever since the start of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zambia 20 years ago, have been increasingly concerned about the long-term impact of HIV/AIDS on our schools, communities, children and teachers, particularly female staff.

We have gathered important (and for some of us, much new) information - during work on girls' education in Zambia for UNICEF for example - about levels of (1) homosexuality/bisexuality, NOT just among younger age cadres of boys, prisoners, soldiers, single-hostel miners etc (2) incest which, given the traditional place of women and girls in the family, continues to prevail, particularly but not only, in rural areas, and (3) child abuse which seems to be on the increase with the pandemic.

The central issues for me are the implications these practices have for addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS on education systems. We think that (1) and (2) are customarily long-standing, but little understood among the research community, although Isaac Schapera implied it 30 years ago in his work on traditional cultures in the region. We think that (3) might be coming into focus partly because of better reporting by welfare services (in South Africa, for example), or more probably because it is on the increase as men think that either they can avoid AIDS by having sex with a child, or they can be cured if they are already infected (one way, and fathers in another), and the issue of responsibility of each individual for choosing how to behave.

What about networking with those who are concerned with violence against women and children, particularly in the day of AIDS when sexual abuse or sexual harassment may in effect literally constitute murder?

If you would like to read an abridged version of Carol's report click here.

SPEAKOUT AGREES WITH CAROL COOMBES AND IS BEGINNING A READERS SPEAKOUT SECTION - WHICH IF WE CAN ACCESS FUNDS WILL DEVELOP INTO A CHAT SECTION FOR DISCUSSING ISSUES AROUND SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND HIV/AIDS. THE PURPOSE OF SPEAKOUT HAS ALWAYS BEEN NOT ONLY TO INFORM OURSELVES AND OTHERS OF THESE CRITICAL ISSUES, BUT TO ADD TO THE DEBATE TO HARNESS NEW THINKING AND RESEARCH SO THAT WE CAN STOP SSEXUAL VIOLENCE AND HIV/AIDS. OUR GOAL IS NOT REDUCTION - BUT ENDING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND AIDS. PLEASE LET US HAVE YOUR COMMENTS AND RESEARCH AT speakout@global.co.za

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