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| Home | Nearly
two thirds of people who are infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa.
There are many factors that have contributed to this incredible epidemic
and each is going to be explained briefly as a way to introduce the more
specific topic of migration and AIDS.
Poverty is the factor that ultimately influences all other risk factors including migration. The people in sub-Saharan Africa have witnessed war and ethnic hatred, dense populations as a result of too rapid urbanization, malnutrition leading to weakened immune systems, inadequate public health, and a large epidemic of STIs which lead to susceptibility. In addition to these risk factors gender inequality is also a key reason why the virus has spread so quickly and easily. Males in African culture often enjoy sexual autonomy and that means that they have the power to be promiscuous and their wives are helpless to prevent that and to refuse sex even if they suspect that their husband has been sleeping with another woman. Women are also starting to have sexual relations at a younger age because men believe that they are more likely to be pure but those women also then are sexually active for a longer period in their lives and therefore their risk has increased. Rape is also incredibly common in countries such as South Africa, where there is a myth that sex with a virgin will cure the male of AIDS. Rape is especially dangerous because the more genital trauma involved, the more likely the woman is to contract the virus. The cultural practice of dry sex (where sex purposefully has little or no lubrication) also contributes to genital trauma. Women who have their husbands die might have a male member of their husband’s family move in with them as part of the practice of widowhood inheritance but this may cause that male to then contract the virus. Women’s main role in society is to bear children and the more children she bears the more respected she will be (even though that may means that she is passing on the virus to more children). Breastfeeding is also a very important cultural practice and women who choose not to are looked down upon. Finally, as urbanization increases, women are more likely to more in to the city usually for financial reasons. As a direct result of their low position in society, they are often forced to turn to prostitution as their only means of earning money. An explanation of the different types of migration and the relationship between migration and AIDS can be found on other pages on this website. Note: This is a summary of points made in the paper I wrote about AIDS in Africa for independent research in January 2003. |
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