Fwd: Women powerless against Aids-infected spouses

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Fri, 03 Oct 2003 00:39:44 +1200

Women powerless against Aids-infected spouses

 

Women powerless against Aids-infected spouses

 

August 14 2003 at 04:01AM

 

 

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?sf=31 & click_id=68 & art_id=vn20030814040121502C

834452 & set_id=1

 

Kampala - Domestic violence against women is contributing to the spread of

HIV/Aids in Uganda.

 

This was the view expressed yesterday by a human rights group, who said the

government should act to protect women.

 

In a 77-page report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said women were forced by

their infected husbands to have unprotected sex, and feared seeking testing,

counselling or treatment because of public scorn. There were no laws to

protect them from domestic violence.

 

" To date, the Ugandan government has ignored the role of violence, in

particular unwanted sexual relations in marriage, in exposing women to HIV

infection. Meanwhile, Ugandan women are dying, " the report by the New

York-based rights group said.

 

'He used to harass me into sex'

Jacqueline N, a 32-year-old widowed mother-of-five, suffers from Aids. For

10 years before he died, her infected husband forced her to have sex without

telling her he was HIV-positive.

 

" Around 1982 he got me out of school because he had impregnated me. I stayed

with him, but he used to harass me into sex. Even when I saw that he was

ill - although I did not suspect he had Aids - he continued forcing me into

sex, " she said.

 

But Dr Elizabeth Madra, manager of the Health Ministry's Aids control

programme, disputed the claim that domestic violence plays a major role in

spreading HIV and Aids.

 

" Domestic violence exists but it should not be taken as the cause for the

spread of Aids; it should be viewed as a risk factor but not the major

factor. If they say that, then they face a challenge of proving it by

counting how many women got Aids through it, " she said.

 

HRW said women like Jacqueline in sub-Saharan Africa, where 58 percent of

Aids sufferers are women, need to be protected by tough legislation that

outlaws marital violence.

 

" Women are left powerless to protect themselves from infection and aren't

able to access HIV and Aids services because their husbands physically

attack or threaten and intimidate them, and do so with impunity, " the report

said.

 

Attorney Jackie Asiimwe, who heads a women's lobbying group, said marital

rape was not an offence in Uganda and women had no legal defence against

it. - Sapa-AP

 

 

 

'Noisy' female condoms too costly, say women

 

October 01 2003 at 02:47AM

 

 

Kampala - Ugandan women are not buying the female condom because they have

complained it is too expensive, too bulky and too noisy during sex,

according to news reports.

 

The head of the Health Ministry's condom unit, Vasta Kibirige, on Tuesday

told reporters and delegates to a family planning conference in Munyonyo

that the government was suspending its efforts to promote the female condom

because it is not widely accepted.

 

Women have complained about the price of female condoms and described them

as " large, intimidating and noisy during intercourse " , Kibirige said.

 

Uganda had one of the world's highest rates of HIV infection in the early

1990s but aggressive promotion of safe sex by the government made it an

Aids-prevention success story. -

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=31 & art_id=vn20031001024708744C424013

& set_id=1

 

 

 

 

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