The vulnerability of Women and men to HIV/AIDS

Socialization plays a vital role in educating men and women about the spread of HIV/AIDS. Gender stereotyping and power relations make women and men, girls and boys vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection.

In Zimbabwe my culture socials men to believe that having many partners is not wrong and that it is part and parcel of manhood. It has been researched and analyzed that men at times are shy to condoms, citing a loss of manliness as a reason for not practicing safer sex. In Africa and around the world, men’s prowess and his ability to produce many children are still seen as a sign of strength. Hence the attempt to prove manhood has caused Africa men to die from HIV/AIDS in many numbers.

In Zimbabwe poverty which is becoming more and more deep-rooted, with large pool of children who have lost parents to AIDS moving into urban cities, young boys too engage in sex work increasing their risk of contracting HIV.

The vulnerability of women and girls is locked into their lack of equality in resources, opportunity and voice through out societies to condemn men’s practice that jeopardize their lives. Women and girls powerlessness expose them to immense risk of HIV infection. Empowering women and a girl child is essential for reducing the vulnerability of HIV infection.

Many women world wide still lack control over their bodies and do not have the right to decide freely and responsibly matters related to their own sexuality. Infected women in Zimbabwe endure further forms of discrimination and less care as this is devoted to caring for the man if both are affected.

Gender violence which is caused by the unequal power relations and family politics between men and women, boys and girls exposes women and girls to rape and sexual abuse, making them vulnerable to HIV infection.

Our societies need to be structure in such a way that both sex males and females have equal chances to stand and defend their rights. Fostering the rights of community members lead to a health society with health relationship. A health society can improve its life style and production can be boosted as most of the time will be spend working instead of attending to the patience.

Journalist as Communicators of Health issues

Journalists are a good vehicle of communication about the health issues affecting the society. Communications is defined as the conveying of a message from one party to another through a medium. The media is one medium through which communications takes place.

HIV/AIDS is causing more damages than anticipated by the community members yet journalists are taking this issue lightly to communicate with the members of the society about it. Facts and figures are the main components of a journalist’s diet for producing and writing news, news analysis and feature stories. Editors and journalist often believe that putting together of facts and figures, with a few voices, is an exercise in objective reporting. Yet there is a lot that journalist should be doing to educate the masses and even opening an arena for discussion on the impact of HIV/AIDS.

In Zimbabwe and around the world what media people fail to grasp is their role as communicators. Researches conducted earlier reflect that the media communicates a variety of messages to various audiences who make up the reading or listening public.
When reporting about HIV/AIDS general in Africa and Zimbabwe in particular, media people have to grasp the complex problems and limitations in typical media representations of gender, to understand that these are deeply embedded social practice and interpretations that can cause confusion to the community members.

Communicating gender requires journalists and other media practitioners to observe the ways people can be marginalised because of gender issues. Journalists when reporting on health issues have to consider the age, class, who gets coverage, from what perspective and through which lens.

Women have to be educated not to regard marriage as a shield against AIDS, but as one way through which AIDS can be contracted. HIV/AIDS has become a grim mixture in women’s live especially in Zimbabwe. Many families are suspicious when their sons and brothers dies and widows are frequently blamed and resented for surviving their husbands.

Media should be in the forefront to encourage women who are about to get married to insist on an HIV test before marriage.

Among Zimbabwean, when a male is infected he receives unconditional support from his family. Women, however, are always blamed. These are some of the issues that media should open a sphere of discussion about.