| Conclusion
It is realised by the South African government that women are more vulnerable than men to be infected with HIV. It is also clear in the new National Strategic Plan that government is aware of the special needs of women. There is however no indication that government takes into account gender and men in the prevention programmes. How this will increase the vulnerability of women is also not attended to in the Strategic Plan, which is a very important document.
It is very clear from this document that the DoH indeed tried to introduce the idea of gender sensitivity in their planning. However, as seen from this paper, not all aspects were included and many areas of gender insensitivity and even gender blindness still exit in this new Plan. One of the areas least focussed on is men and masculinity. HIV/AIDS prevention can’t be only the responsibility of women. They are already overburdened with care and support and it is absurd to ignore the roles and responsibilities of men in HIV/AIDS prevention. When taking gender into account, all aspects should be dealt with. Culture, history, biological aspects as well as the relationship between men and women should be addressed. Accepting and addressing the differences between men and women are the only long term solution for ensuring that HIV/AIDS prevention policies and programmes are successful. With this second Strategic Plan, the South Africa government have not used the opportunity to acknowledge and address these differences. The result of this is a prevention strategy that does not take the reality of gender in South Africa into account. This is an extremely dangerous situation, as gender is about the relations between men and women, and most AIDS infections are linked to the relations between men and women. HIV/AIDS prevention in South Africa can’t afford not to take gender into account.
Dostları ilə paylaş: |
