HIV / AIDS among Kenyan Youth :: HIV in Africa

In 2001, Sub-Saharan Africa recorded the highest number of deaths from HIV/AIDS, with 29.4 million people living with AIDS; 10 million young people and 3 million children. Among these, 12.2 million were women and 10.1 million men. In 2002, 3.5 million new infections were reported. From this backdrop, Kenyans were interviewed on their perceptions of sex and condom use within heterosexual relationships revealing that denial and silence played a major role in the escalation of the pandemic while gender differences, culture and power were perceived as negatively impacting negotiation of sex and condom use within Kenyan communities. Kagutui ka mucie gatihakagwo ageni. (The secrets of one’s home are not to be revealed to strangers) - Gikuyu proverb AIDS was a disease that shines in hush and thrives on secrecy. It was prospering because people were choosing not to talk about it. It was this realization that provoked me to go wider, beyond my personal circle, beyond the people I worked with. The quieter we keep it the more people it will affect and stigmatize, especially while people believe that AIDS affects some people and not others (Kaleeba 29). This article is based on semi structured interviews with four Kenyan men and women on how they perceive, and negotiate sex and condom use within heterosexual relationships. It focuses on gender, culture and power, and how these dynamics are projected, if at all, in participants’ negotiation of sexual relationships within the Kenyan community. The purpose of the study is to understand the relationship between gender, power and HIV/AIDS prevention. Sub-Saharan Africa has recently recorded the highest incidences of death from HIV/AIDS with a total of 29.4 million people living with the disease. Among these, ten million are young people aged fifteen to twenty four while three million are children under the age of fifteen. In the year 2002, 3.5 million new infections were reported (UNAIDS 2). One reason for this seemingly recent rise in the number of infections is the result of years of denial and silence about the existence of HIV/AIDS. Recent statistics indicate that Botswana’s adult prevalence Sex, HIV/AIDS and Silence 45 rate for example, has peaked to 38.8 %, Lesotho 31%, Swaziland 33.4% and Zimbabwe 33.7%. In total, Africa experiences 6,000 AIDS related deaths per day and Kenya, 18 deaths per hour (UNAIDS 3). Researchers, educators and governments now suggest the need [for] culturally sensitive knowledge of sexual beliefs and practices as a way forward to understanding and evaluating patterns of HIV/AIDS transmission in different communities, in view of designing effective intervention programs (Lansky 3). This paper focuses on a study of culture and HIV/AIDS, and what effects gender differences and power might be having on HIV/AIDS