What’s New

By Elizabeth Ndhlovu-Dumbreni

Richman Rangwani

My name is Richman Rangwani and I am proudly living with HIV. I am representing the traditional leadership community at this forum and I am also a councillor in Mhondoro Ngezi District. Although I have been victimised in person and in the media for speaking up for key populations, this hasn’t stopped me from doing what I know is the right thing to do.

By Elizabeth Ndhlovu-Dumbreni

 

Pastor Caroline Maposhere

Health professional, counsellor and pastor, Caroline Maposhere, who was part of the dialogue with parliamentarians on addressing health/ HIV services for key populations, used the binaries and boxes tool to demonstrate and address the stereotypes and homophobia perpetrated against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) members of our society.

By Elizabeth Ndhlovu-Dumbreni

SAfAIDS Executive Director Mrs Lois Chingandu

SAfAIDS last week held a dialogue with parliamentarians on addressing barriers to access to health/ HIV services for key populations (KPs). The dialogue, which was attended by lawmakers, KP members, the media, and traditional and religious representatives, focused on sensitising the audience on the needs of key populations as well as doing away with stigma.

By Elizabeth Ndhlovu-Dumbreni

 

Honourable Susan Matsunga (standing) shares her views at meeting

 

Member of Parliament for Harare Metropolitan, Honourable Susan Matsunga, highlighted at the KP dialogue with parliamentarians, the importance of working with key populations on the ground and involving them in all planned activities.

By Elizabeth Ndhlovu-Dumbreni

Key populations (KP) in Malawi are a group facing significant stigma and discrimination both in society at large and at health facilities, because some of their behaviours are stigmatised and even criminalised. As a result, they also have less access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services.

It is against this backdrop that Malawian MP for Mchinji West; Honourable Deus Gumba (pictured above), has made strides in giving a voice to members of key populations in his constituency and beyond.

Buumba continues to defy all odds not only in Zambia, but regionally and internationally. In the last quarter alone she has received five local and international awards namely: The Zambian Woman of the Year: Cry of An Orphan Award; Outstanding African Motivational Award; African Image Maker Award; and the 100 Iconic Women World Award (alongside world leaders like German President Angela Merkel, Hilary Clinton, Melinda Gates, Indira Ghandi, Christine Lagarde and Wangai Matari!)

Sex workers in Mashava have faced stigma and discrimination as their work is considered unacceptable by the community; many religious groups believe sex work is a sin and against the law of God. As a result, sex workers are viewed as a disgrace to society and these attitudes are shared by service providers. Consequently, sex workers face challenges in accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services and rights. When they do gather the courage to access SRH services for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), they are asked to bring their partners. This acts as a barrier to their accessing treatment as – since they have multiple sex partners – tracing their STI contact is difficult.

I am a 2017 SAfAIDS Young People’s Leadership Academy (YPLA) mentee, currently working as a Project Officer with Girls Empowerment Network (GENET) in Mzimba, Malawi. As a young person, I am passionate about the empowerment of young people, particularly girls, to prevent gender-based violence (GBV). On completing the first YPLA training module, I was very motivated to create change in my community and country. I utilised the knowledge I had gained through the training, along with other resources, to develop a sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) training manual for community members.

By Runyararo Mutariswa

“A rapist does not have to be a stranger, someone you never saw or a man with obvious problems to be legitimate. If you have been in public with him, danced one dance, kissed him goodbye lightly with a closed mouth, pressing charges will be as hard as keeping your legs closed while five fools try and run a train on you. These men, friends of ours, who smile nicely, take you out to dinner, then lock the door behind you.”

These lines from the movie ‘For Coloured Girls’ shed some light on the problematic nature of intimate sexual violence.

This day is set aside by the United Nations (UN) to highlight the gender inequality that girls face on a daily basis. Every girl deserves equal opportunities to excel in every facet of their lives and attain a bright future. However, this right continues to be violated gravely.  UN Women reports that every 10 minutes an adolescent girl dies as a result of violence somewhere in the world.  Nineteen percent of all women and girls between the ages of 15 to 49 years have experienced physical and/or sexual violence. Child marriage is rampant in most African communities and the voice of the girl child is all too often silenced.