NRU :: Browsing by Author "Nyanzi, Stella"

Browsing by Author "Nyanzi, Stella"

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"Abortion? That's for Women!" Narratives and Experiences of Commercial Motorbike Riders South-Western Uganda
(African journal of reproductive health, 2005) Nyanzi, Stella; Nyanzi, Barbara; Kalina, Bessie
Although constitutionally illegal, induced abortion is a vital reproductive health option in Uganda. analyses men's narratives about meanings of, and experiences with, abortion. Men play significant tion as instigators, facilitators, collaborators, transporters, advisors, informers, supporters or punishment Many participants were knowledgeable about abortion. Attitudes were ambivalent, with initial reactions and relegation of abortion to women's private domains. Further exploration, however, revealed active and involvement of men. Interpretations of abortion ranged from 'dependable saviour' to 'deceptive Though a private action, abortion is socially scripted and often collectively determined by wider social kinsmen, the community, peers, law and religion. A disjuncture exists between dominant public health and the reality of local men who interact with women and girls as wives, lovers, sex sellers, mothers, sisters. Interventions targeting men about abortion should include safe sex education, provide services and create stronger social support mechanisms. Policy and law should incorporate local knowledge practice
The adventures of the Randy Professor and Angela the Sugar Mummy: Sex in fictional serials in Ugandan popular magazines
(AIDS Care: Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV, 2005) Gysels, M.; Nyanzi, Stella; Pool, Robert
In 1996 newspaper vendors in Ugandan towns started selling a new kind of locally produced ‘lifestyle’ magazine. On the covers there were young, scantily dressed girls and inside news articles, fictional serials, lifestyle articles, agony aunt columns, etc. The new magazines gained an enormous popularity in a short space of time. Everywhere people were seen reading them and copies became brown and tattered from use. Using content analysis, we analyse the fictional serials which appeared in three of these magazines. We focus on these because they were the most sexually explicit type of content and, from a public health perspective, the most relevant with regard to HIV prevention. The stories were presented as simple entertainment, depicting the adventures of stereotypical characters. They provided people with explicit and unrestricted sexual fantasy which was, at the same time, devoid of any real risk. Although they could be interpreted as providing a discourse which challenged the main messages of HIV-prevention campaigns (sex is good for you, have as much of it as possible, and don’t let condoms spoil the enjoyment), they also suggest that behaviour change may be more popular if sex and sexual health are not separated from sexual pleasure, and safe sex is promoted from a positive perspective (emphasis on sexual enjoyment) rather than a negative one (prevention of disease). The popularity of the magazines underscores the importance of entertainment value when discussing sex, and suggests alternative possibilities for disseminating health messages. Illustrated popular magazines such as those discussed here could be suitable as intervention, though they would need some adaptation to counter gender stereotypes and sexual violence.
‘African Sex is Dangerous!’ Renegotiating ‘Ritual Sex’ in Contemporary Masaka District
(Africa, 2008) Nyanzi, Stella; Nassimbwa, Justine; Kayizzi, Vincent; Kabanda, Strivan
HIV in sub-Saharan Africa is predominantly spread through unsafe heterosexual contact. For a long time, the culture of African peoples has been presented as the cause of the high prevalence and incidence of HIV/AIDS on the African continent. Examples include Caldwell et al. (1989) and several Caldwellians1 who highlight traditional cultural practices, ‘the African system of sexuality’, and the values and attitudes of sub-Saharan Africans as responsible for the rampant spread of the pandemic.2 This article contributes to a body of criticism (including Le Blanc et al. 1991; Ahlberg 1994; Heald 1995; Arnfred 2004) of the Caldwellians’ positivist, deterministic, homogenizing and ethnocentric view, which assumes that culture is a concept set in stone – fixed, rigid and static. Furthermore, a Caldwellian analytical framework assumes that while culture has drastic impacts on social phenomena such as health, sexuality and gender norms, these phenomena remain unchanging, dormant and stagnant. They neglect the two-way interaction between culture – in this case sexual culture3 – and health.
Ambivalence Surrounding Elderly Widows’ Sexuality in Urban Uganda
(Ageing International, 2011) Nyanzi, Stella
The elderly are commonly stereotyped as asexual beings. Alternatively mainly negative images abound about the sexual activities of elderly people. Based on ethnographic data this article explores diverse sexualities of elderly widows and widowers in an urban periphery of Kampala city. Widowhood is socially constructed as an asexual period in this patriarchal society where heteronormativity and marriage prevail as the accepted norms. While widowers are generally encouraged to remarry after observing proprieties of mourning, sexual activity among elderly widows is heavily proscribed against particularly because it is not procreative. Adult children control the sexuality of their elderly parents, often by discouraging sexual liaisons. Adult children may also arrange for new spouses with utilitarian value such as providing healthcare for ill elders. Post-menopausal widows have less sexual appeal than younger widows for whom reproduction is a viable outcome of sexuality. Widowers and younger widows are more likely to remarry than elderly widows. Consequently for some older widows, the cultural institution of widow inheritance provides an opportunity to resume sexual activity, and benefit from the levirate guardian’s support. However other older widows rejected inheritance by levirate guardians because of fears of catching HIV/AIDS. HIV does infect elderly Ugandans, although prevention and care interventions generally exclude targeting the elderly. Loneliness was widespread among elderly widows. Many felt isolated, dislocated from former social circulation and missed being relevant. However there were a few elderly individuals who were actively engaged in providing sexual education, advocating for sexual health promotion, and defending the sexual rights of the younger generations in their immediate environs. There is an urgent need for more research about the realities of elderly people’s sexualities, sexual health and sexual rights particularly in resource-poor contexts.
Attitudes to voluntary counselling and testing for HIV among pregnant women in rural south-west Uganda
(AIDS Care: Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV, 2001) Pool, R.; Nyanzi, Stella; Whitworth, J. A. G.
This paper describes the results of a study exploring the attitudes of women attending maternity clinics to voluntary counselling and testing during pregnancy in rural areas in south-west Uganda. It was a qualitative study using focus group discussions (FGDs). Twenty-four FGDs were carried out with 208 women attending maternity clinics in three sites in rural south-west Uganda. The FGDs were all recorded and transcribed, and analysed using standard computer-based qualitative techniques. Almost all women were willing in principle to take an HIV test in the event of pregnancy, and to reveal their HIV status to maternity staff. They were anxious, however, about confidentiality, and there was a widespread fear that maternity staff might refuse to assist them when the time came to deliver if their status were known. This applied more to traditional birth attendants than to biomedical health staff. There were also rumours about medical staff intentionally killing HIV-positive patients in order to stem the spread of the epidemic. Women were concerned that if their husbands found out they were HIV-positive they would be blamed and separation or domestic violence might result. In conclusion: although VCT during pregnancy is acceptable in principle, much will need to be done to ensure confidentiality and allay women’s fears of stigmatisation and discrimination during delivery. Community sensitisation will be necessary and male partners will have to be involved if interventions are to be acceptable
Breastfeeding practices and attitudes relevant to the vertical transmission of HIV in rural south-west Uganda
(Annals of tropical paediatrics, 2001) Nyanzi, Stella; Pool, Robert; Whitworth, James A. G.
Breastfeeding has been associated with a doubling of the risk of HIV transmission. In developed countries, it is recommended that HIV-positive women do not breastfeed, but this is not a feasible option in most of Africa. It is therefore important to know the extent to which breastfeeding practices are amenable to change. To study this, we carried out 24 focus group discussions with 208 women attending maternity clinics in three rural sites in rural south-west Uganda. Breastfeeding starts from a few minutes to a few days after delivery; most women reported starting after 2 days. The main reason for delay is lack of milk or that the breasts are ‘blocked’. Most women thought that this delay was good for the baby, or at least not harmful. Almost all women reported giving the child a soup made of boiled mushrooms before starting to breastfeed. Once they have started breastfeeding, various supplementary foods are gradually introduced at 4–6 months. Women thought that ideally breastfeeding should last for 2–3 years, but in practice most stopped after 18 months. The father and his female relatives generally decide when the child should be weaned. The women thought that commercial milk formula foods were good but could not use them because they are too expensive and anyway unavailable in rural areas. Most women were unaware that HIV could be passed to the child through breastfeeding. Various practices identi ed as potentially risky are common in this population. Arti cial feeding is not a viable option in this area, and although women were prepared to make sacri ces to prevent vertical transmission of HIV, practices are deeply ingrained in traditional culture and will need to be addressed in future interventions. Male partners will also need to be involved.
Bumsters, Big Black Organs And Old White Gold: Embodied Racial Myths In Sexual Relationships Of Gambian Beach Boys
(Culture, Health & Sexuality, 2005) Nyanzi, Stella; Jallow, Ousman Rosenberg; Bah, Ousman; Nyanzi, Susan
Sexuality is a platform upon which ideologies are enacted. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in The Gambia, this paper discusses the embodiment of racial myths about male Black bodies and Western affluence. Methods utilized included participant observation, focus group discussions and in‐depth interviews. Beach‐boys, locally called bumsters, are a common feature of the country's tourism. Societal attitudes to bumsters are ambivalent. Bumsters variously indulge in a complex web of sexual activity ranging from commercial to non‐commercial, voluntary to socially‐imposed, individual to peer‐driven, heterosexual to homosexual, casual to regular, particularly with foreign tourists. Narratives about their sexuality reveal an enactment of myths about the male Black body and superior sexual performance on one hand, and images of plundered wealth sitting in ‘the West’—a dream destination flowing with milk and honey, and physically represented by the toubab—a local label for White foreigners—on the other. This highly fantasized wealth forms the core of youth aspirations to travel abroad. Sexual activity with a toubab is the ticket out of Africa's inherent scarcity. Metaphors and idioms of unlimited virility and dynamic manhood are reinforced through sex tourism and form part of the identity of Gambian bumsters. These self‐images reinstate and reinforce racial stereotypes.
Contemporary Myths, Sexuality Misconceptions, Information Sources, and Risk Perceptions of Bodabodamen in Southwest Uganda
(Sex Roles, 2005) Nyanzi, Stella; Nyanzi, Barbara; Kalina, Bessie
This article reports findings from a study conducted among 212 private motorbike–taxi riders, locally called bodabodamen, from two study sites—a slum area and the urban center of Masaka town. Qualitative and quantitative methods were triangulated; a questionnaire, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, case studies, and interactive workshops were all used. There were high levels of awareness of HIV, much more than sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), because many participants had closely experienced HIV/AIDS. Knowledge about sexual health contained several misconceptions, misinformation, and myths rooted in both the historical and contemporary social cultural context. Due to high illiteracy levels, bodabodamen cannot access many standard health education materials issued by government and private health organizations through the print and electronic media, as well as those published in languages other than the local vernacular. These (and possibly other) disadvantaged groups remain at risk of HIV and STDs. Especial efforts need to be made to provide appropriate health education.
Contested Terrains of Women of Color and Third World Women
(Hypatia, 2017) Fatima, Saba; Dotson, Kristie; Seodu Herr, Ranjoo; Khader, Serene J.; Nyanzi, Stella
This particular Musing emerged from some uncomfortable and constructive conversations that took place at the 2015 FEAST conference as it explored the contested terrains of identifiers such as women of color, Third World women, transnational, and global South. FEAST (Feminist Ethics and Social Theory) is a longstanding US-based organization of feminist philosophers that holds biennial conferences. At each conference, FEAST encourages its participants to submit in response to a similarly titled call for papers for a special issue of a feminist-friendly journal, such as Hypatia: Journal of Feminist Philosophy. The 2015 FEAST conference call for papers was titled “Contested Terrains: Women of Color, Feminisms, and Geopolitics.” However, in the corresponding CFP for Hypatia, “Women of Color” had been replaced with “Third World Women.” Concerned debate ensued at the FEAST meeting and then continued through electronic correspondence. After much deliberation and communication, the title changed to its present iteration: “Women of Color and Third World Women.” I note this change both to record institutional memory and to mark the unresolved and misunderstood tensions that exist in feminist philosophy, a subfield explicitly committed to issues of women’s lives, social justice, and intersectionality. Although these ideals have been embraced theoretically, they are much harder to put into practice.
Dismantling Reified African Culture Through Localised Homosexualities In Uganda
(Culture, health & sexuality, 2013) Nyanzi, Stella
Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 aimed at protecting the cherished culture of the people against emergent threats to the traditional heterosexual family. The Bill's justification, however, lay in myopic imaginings of a homogenous African-ness and pedestrian oblivion to pluralities within African sexualities. This paper revisits the debate that homosexuality is ‘un-African’. Rhetoric analysis of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill exposes how dominant discourses of law, medicine, religion, geography and culture reinforce the view that homosexuality is foreign to Africa. Based on ethnography in contemporary Uganda, I explore how self-identified same-sex-loving individuals simultaneously claim their African-ness and their homosexuality. Their strategies include ethnic belonging, membership to kinship structures, making connections with pre-colonial histories of homosexuality, civic participation in democratic processes, national identity, organising of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and questioning support groups, language and nomenclature, visibility and voice in local communal activities, solidarity and adherence to cultural rituals. In present-day Uganda, same-sex-loving men, women and transgender people variously assert their African-ness.
Ethnography and PRA among Gambian traditional birth attendants: a methods discussion
(Qualitative Research, 2007) Nyanzi, Stella; Bah, Ousman; Joof, Sulayman; Walraven, Gijs
Ethnographers are often sceptical of employing Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tools in their research, calling them ‘a quick and dirty’ approach. However, ethnography has limitations as a research method. We therefore combined the two methods to enhance their strengths. Based on fieldwork in rural Gambia, this article discusses the procedure, merits and shortcomings of triangulating PRA and conventional ethnography methods to conduct research among an illiterate study population of traditional birth attendants. When tailored to suit the target study population, some PRA tools do enhance the emic perspective – thus empowering the study participants and making research results more context-relevant.
Female Control Of Sexuality: Illusion Or Reality? Use Of Vaginal Products In South West Uganda
(Social Science & Medicine, 2001) Green, Gill; Pool, Robert; Harrison, Susan; Hart, Graham J.; Wilkinson, Joanie; Nyanzi, Stella; Whitworth, James A.G.
This paper reports on a trial of vaginal products that were distributed and used by 131 women and 21 men in south west Uganda. It focuses specifically upon the issue of female control in heterosexual relationships and examines whether methods which are ostensibly under women’s control, will in practice give women greater control of their sexual health. Participants were invited to select two from a range of vaginal products that included the female condom, contraceptive sponge, film, tablets, foam and gel, and use each for five weeks and their favourite product for a further three months. They were interviewed up to seven times over a five-month period. Although the women perceived that a major advantage of the products (with the exception of the female condom) was that they could be used secretly, less than 40% were using the products without their partner’s knowledge after one week and this proportion declined over time with only 22% using the products secretly after ten weeks. In the main male partners were told as women felt it their duty to inform them. In general the women were very much more positive about the products than they were about the male condom, as were the men. A contributory factor to their popularity among women was the greater control they gave them. Even though, use of these products in practice often involved negotiation with male partners, the fact that use was contingent on women’s action was empowering and increased somewhat their ability to control their sexual health.
From Miniscule Biomedical Models To Sexuality's Depths
(The Lancet, 2006) Nyanzi, Stella
Nearly three decades of prevention interventions against HIV/AIDS have yielded little eff ect, with the few success stories heralded universally as potential blueprints in best-practice dossiers. Unprotected sex is still the most common mode of HIV transmission. Unintended or teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, and sexual abuse, violence, and discrimination remain major public-health challenges, despite targeted strategies of redress. What is missing in available sexual-health programmes, policies, and activism? Why are they not as eff ective as they promise? What is wrong with these interventions? One possibility is foundational: interventions are premised on limited working defi nitions of sexuality as a concept
Ghettoisation, migration or sexual connection? Negotiating survival among Gambian male youths
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010) Nyanzi, Stella
In The Gambia, successful livelihoods among youths are challenged by unemployment, underemployment, low employability due to limited skills, early school drop- out, high infl ation rates and fl edging groundnut prices (DoSFEA, 2006: 24; Heintz et al., 2008: 23–9; Jones and Chant, 2009). Important national policy frameworks such as the National Youth Policy 1998–2008 and Poverty Reduction Strategy 2007–2011 highlight the signifi cance of youth unemployment to national development. In communities, adults and elders complain about contemporary young people suff ering from delayed maturity and its disadvantages. Struggling against the current, youths either succumb to apocalyptic pronouncements of a cursed generation, or innovatively resist this marginalisation.
Homosexuality, Sex Work, and HIV/AIDS in Displacement and Post-Conflict Settings: The Case of Refugees in Uganda
(International Peacekeeping, 2013) Nyanzi, Stella
This article aims to disrupt the silence, invisibility and erasures of non-heteronormative sexual orientations or gender identities, and of sex work, in HIV/AIDS responses within displacement and post-conflict settings in Africa. Informed by Gayle Rubin’s sexual hierarchy theoretical framework,1 it explores the role of discrimination and violation of the rights of sex workers and of gender and sexual minorities in driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic during displacement. Specific case materials focus on ethnographic research conducted in urban and rural Uganda. Recommendations for policy, practice and programmes are outlined.
‘I never thought that this baby would survive; I thought that it would die any time’: perceptions and care for preterm babies in eastern Uganda
(Tropical medicine & international health, 2010) Waiswa, Peter; Nyanzi, Stella; Namusoko-Kalungi, Sarah; Peterson, Stefan; Tomson, Goran; Pariyo, George W.
To explore the current care for and perceptions about preterm babies among community members in eastern Uganda. methods A neonatal midwife observed care of preterm babies in one general hospital and 15 health centres using a checklist and a field diary. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 community health workers (CHWs) and also with 10 mothers, six fathers and three grandmothers of preterm babies. Three focus group discussions were conducted with midwives and women and men in the community. Content analysis of data was performed. results Community members mentioned many features which may correctly be used to identify preterm babies. Care practices for preterm babies at health facilities and community level were inadequate and potentially harmful. Health facilities lacked capacity for care of preterm babies in terms of protocols, health workers’ skills, basic equipment, drugs and other supplies. However, community members and CHWs stated that they accepted the introduction of preterm care practices such as skinto- skin and kangaroo mother care. conclusion In this setting, care for preterm babies is inadequate at both health facility and community level. However, acceptance of the recommended newborn care practices indicated by the community is a window of opportunity for introducing programmes for preterm babies. In doing so, consideration needs to be given to the care provided at health facilities as well as to the gaps in community care that are largely influenced by beliefs, perceptions and lack of awareness.
Men’s Attitudes To Condoms And Female Controlled Means Of Protection Against HIV And STDS In South-Western Uganda
(Culture, Health & Sexuality, 2000) Pool, Robert; Hart, Graham; Green, Gillian; Harrison, Susan; Nyanzi, Stella; Whitworth, Jimmy
There is widespread demand for the development of female controlled methods of protection against sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV. The success of such methods will not only depend on their acceptability to women but also to their male partners. This paper reports on men's attitudes to female controlled methods in south west Uganda. Data was gathered in individual interviews with 50 men and 7 focus group discussions with 42 men. Male attitudes to the male condom, the female condom and female controlled methods of protection generally were characterized by ambiguity and anxiety. They liked the male condom because it protects against infection and unwanted pregnancy, but were worried by rumours that it was unreliable. The central theme in the discussions was men's anxiety about retaining control over their female partners. The men wanted women to be protected (and therefore safe as potential partners) but they also wanted to remain in control, at least to some extent, of the means of protection. Once suitable female controlled methods have been identified, it will be necessary to use education and social marketing in such a way that men can be reassured of the positive benefits of these products to them, as well as to women.
Mobility, sexual networks and exchange among bodabodamen in southwest Uganda
(An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, 2004) Nyanzi, Stella; Nyanzi, Barbara; Kalina, Bessie; Pool, Robert
In order to examine the sexual behaviour of a highly mobile social group, qualitative data and quantitative data were elicited from 212 private motorbike taxi-men, locally called bodabodamen, from two study sites in Masaka, Uganda. Selection criteria were availability and willingness to participate in the study. Research techniques employed were a questionnaire, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and case studies. Findings indicate that bodabodamen are a highly mobile group who engage in frequent seasonal rural-urban migration. Consequent to this, bodabodamen have a wide network of both occasional and regular sexual partnerships. Both serial and concurrent multiple partnerships are with adults, youths, widows, students, sugar-mummies, barmaids, commercial sex workers, tailors. Exchange plays a significant role in sexual negotiations but the act of giving to a sexual partner is ambivalent in its social interpretation. Since bodabodamen have regular access to cash, they have higher bargaining power for sex. Implications for HIV/ AIDS prevention are discussed.
Money, men and markets: Economic and sexual empowerment of market women in southwestern Uganda
(An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care, 2005) Nyanzi, Barbara; Nyanzi, Stella; Wolff, Brent; Whitworth, James
Market trading requires access to cash, independent decision-making, mobility and social interaction. This study sought to explore whether market work empowers women with respect to spending decisions and negotiation over sex and condom-use. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 212 market women; and 12 focus group discussions and 52 in-depths interviews were conducted among market women in southwestern Uganda. Market women reported high levels of independence, mobility, assertiveness and social interaction. Access to cash was not synonymous with control over it, however. Spending decisions were limited by men’s ability to selectively withdraw finances for expenditures central to women’s concerns including household and children’s needs. Trading in markets earns women masculine labels such as kiwagi, characterized variously as independent, rebellious and insubordinate. Earning money does not change expectations of correct behaviour for wives, making it difficult for women to initiate, deny sex or ask for condoms. Independence and income from market work may make it easier for women to enter and exit new sexual relationships. However, unable to protect themselves within partnerships, HIV risk may increase as a result.
The Negotiation of Masculinities by Motorbike Taxi-Riders in Masaka, Uganda
(Men and Masculinities, 2009) Nyanzi, Stella; Nyanzi-Wakholi, Barbara; Kalina, Bessie
Understanding contemporary sociocultural constructions of masculinity and sexuality is crucial in the struggle against HIV/AIDS. This article discusses lay conceptualizations and enactments of manhood, in interaction with emic interpretations and practices of promiscuity. Data were collected from motorbike taxi-riders in southwest Uganda using ethnographic participant observation, a semi-structured questionnaire (n = 221), focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, case studies, and interactive workshops. Meanings and interpretations of masculinity are deeply imbued with sociocultural symbols drawn from the traditional, ritualistic, political, economic, and contemporary contexts. Social scripts and expectations are for males to engage in sexual activity as evidence of maturation. Higher social status, economic well-being, power, and “more manhood” are associated with multiple sexual partners. This male ideology perpetuates patriarchy and the commoditization of women, disparages messages of anti-HIV/AIDS campaigns, and supports risky sexual behavior. Sexual and reproductive health interventions should widen contemporary local perceptions and understandings of manhood to include safe sexual behavior

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