Journal Article

Challenging HIV vulnerability discourse: the case of professional and entrepreneurial women in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Maticka-Tyndale, Eleanor, Jangu, Neema William, Tam, Ailie

2017

Overview

A poverty-HIV narrative has dominated many HIV prevention strategies in Africa despite epidemiological data showing higher prevalence of infection among educated and wealthier women in several African countries. This paper examines the perspectives of professional and entrepreneurial women on HIV risk and vulnerability based on their knowledge and lived experiences, comparing this to the HIV discourse evident in five strategic documents that shape intervention in Tanzania. The purpose is to uncover the confluence and dissonance between the discourses of government and those of professional women themselves. Qualitative research methods included critical discourse analysis of five strategic documents and thematic analysis of 37 in-depth interviews with women. The findings challenge fixed representations of women and notions of vulnerability embedded in the poverty-HIV discourse. Women described using their sexuality and sexual agency as a means to elevate their position in ways that made them vulnerable to sexual harassment and coercion. This is explored through two intersecting themes: non-marital sexual exchanges to gain an education or employment, and marriage. The intersecting social positions and constructions of female sexuality and agency expressed by the women in this study provide insights into other avenues and forms of HIV vulnerability.

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis,Taylor & Francis, Ltd,Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subject: Adult / Business and professional women / Coercion / Critical discourse analysis / Critical theory / Discourse analysis / Discourses / Employment / entrepreneurial women / Entrepreneurs / Entrepreneurship / Epidemiology / Female / Government agencies / Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / HIV / HIV Infections - epidemiology / HIV Infections - psychology / HIV vulnerability / Human immunodeficiency virus / Humans / Interviews as Topic / Marriage / Occupations / Poverty / Prevalence / Prevention programs / Preventive medicine / Professional women / Qualitative analysis / Qualitative Research / Research methodology / Risk Factors / Sexual Behavior / sexual exchange / Sexual harassment / Sexual Partners / Sexuality / Tanzania / Tanzania - epidemiology / Vulnerability / Women / Working women