HIV
Ghanaian women's risk.
Social Science & Medicine Volume 54, Issue 3
February 2002 Pages 325-337
HIV risk environment for Ghanaian women: challenges to prevention
Judy E. Mill,
Abstract
Ghana is experiencing high rates of HIV transmission and women have been
identified as a group with increased vulnerability to infection. Women's
vulnerability may be influenced by factors such as gender, unequal power
relationships and poverty. Research was undertaken in Ghana from January
to May 1999 to examine the experiences of HIV sero-positive women.
Thirty-one women were interviewed to explore the broad context of disease
transmission and to identify factors that mediated women's ability to
protect themselves from infection. The poverty experienced by many of the
women during their childhood years, coupled with a societal belief that
favored the education of males, restricted the participants' educational
and vocational opportunities. With limited education and few vocational
skills, many of the women took boyfriends to assist them with the purchase
of food, clothing and shelter, as a strategy for survival. For most women,
the use of condoms with sexual partners was restricted by the high value
placed on fertility, the negative association of condoms with
prostitution, and the women's limited ability to influence decision-making
in this area. The women's narratives provide a compelling description of
the context of HIV transmission in Ghana. Strategies to expand and
intensify the response to HIV prevention are presented and critiqued.
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