LWI 2008-051 FEATURE: Striving to Break Taboos

[LWFNews]

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FEATURE: Striving to Break Taboos
Traditional Gender Roles Contribute to Spread of HIV

MEXICO CITY, Mexico /GENEVA, 15 August 2008 (LWI) - "The men
treat us like beasts and animals. They come in, have sex, and
leave." This is how the wife of a Burkina Faso Christian
described her marital life, Rev. Kouliga Michel Nikiema told a
workshop organized at the Ecumenical Pre-Conference "Faith in
Action Now!" which preceded the 3-8 August XVII International
AIDS Conference in Mexico. Nikiema is director of Vigilance, a
Christian organization based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, which
strives to break taboos within the church on subjects such as
sexual health and HIV and AIDS. 

Nikiema's work focuses increasingly on traditional gender roles
which contribute to the spread of HIV, he said. By merely
changing the relationship between men and women, the AIDS
pandemic could be successfully controlled, he noted. 

With support from the British relief organization Tearfund,
Vigilance has become actively involved in relationship
counseling. Nikiema organizes training workshops and seminars in
which topics such as gender roles and sexuality are discussed.
The aim is to involve the country's protestant churches in these
activities. 

The Vigilance director says new biblical interpretation can help
call traditional role behavior into question. "Jesus came to
reunite them. (...) being united is answering the prayer of
Jesus, who said, 'Let them be one, like you and me Father,'" he
noted. He said he was convinced that the strategy was bearing
fruit, citing feedback he had received that men were treating
women with greater respect and that communication and sexual
relationships have improved. 


"Liberating Masculinity"

Rev. Charles Klagba from Togo, theological consultant to the
Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA), too, is
convinced that AIDS prevention must address the gender problem.
In this regard, EHAIA, a World Council of Churches project, has
developed a new concept which he refers to as ‘liberating
masculinity.’ "We need to question the role society presses on
us. (...) We always preach to women, they are well equipped, but
when they go back [home], they are in the same framework as
before and can’t do much because men are still the same,"
stated Klagba.

The strongly patriarchal hierarchy makes it difficult or
impossible for women to protect themselves, especially in African
countries. According to the German relief agency Brot fuer die
Welt and a position paper released by the Danish humanitarian
organization DanChurchAid, the proportion of women who are
HIV-positive is around 61 percent. "Women in these countries have
no decision-making power. So they also cannot negotiate condom
use or safer sex with their husbands," said Astrid
Berner-Rodoreda, HIV and AIDS adviser for Brot fuer die Welt.
Polygamy, she added, continues to be a widespread practice in
many African countries. 


New Position Paper

"Human Rights, HIV & AIDS Prevention and Gender Equality: An
Impossible Cocktail for Faith Based Organizations?" is the title
of a recent position paper for faith-based organizations. The
paper was developed by DanChurchAid in collaboration with
organizations such as Christian Aid (United Kingdom), Brot fuer
die Welt (Germany), FinnChurchAid (Finland), Norwegian Church Aid
(Norway), Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation
(ICCO) and Kerk in Actie (both in the Netherlands). 

Jan Bjarne Sodal of the Christian Council of Norway and Martin
Rosenkilde Pedersen, DanChurchAid program adviser for HIV and
AIDS, presented the document at the Ecumenical Pre-Conference in
Mexico City. The paper is intended as an incentive for other
groups and organizations, in particular for partners in the
South, Pedersen indicated. 

The position paper calls upon faith-based organizations to
strengthen women's right to reproductive and sexual health. "The
right to decide freely when not to have children, to be protected
from sexual coercion, genital mutilation or forced pregnancy and
to have access to safe contraception that prevents the spread of
HIV are key human rights and critical preconditions for any
effective HIV prevention effort," the paper states.

Sodal criticized churches for having frequently supported and
upheld traditional roles and inequalities, but at the same
pointed out that breaking up traditional roles was a challenge
for all human beings. “There are some deep-seated attitudes,
stereotypes and patriarchal systems that are woven deeply into
our being, into our social and cultural beliefs, traditions and
norms. We are brought up with them. It is how we are socialized,"
she said.
 
"Are we actually able to step out of that completely? Both men
and women are consciously and/ or unconsciously supporting them
and keeping them up, the attitudes, the traditions and
expressions of unequal gender roles," she remarked. (752 words)
 
(By LWI correspondent Julia Heyde)

The position paper “Human Rights, HIV/AIDS Prevention and
Gender Equality: An Impossible Cocktail for Faith Based
Organizations?”  is available in English in PDF format at:
www.danchurchaid.org/content/download/16610/130375/file/AidsPaper_WEB.pdf


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