Women and Power

Abstract

HIV and AIDS in wornen has ernerged differently frorn that in other groups. This is not surprising given the established roles of women and the complexities of gender issues within societal structures. What is surprising is the length of time it took to understand and acknowledge this and the fact that despite the fact that HIV infection was present and prevalent in women from the start of the epidemic, the study and focus for this group emerged late in the day and only after concerted political effort and attention. Nakajima and Rubin (1991) carried out a review of HIV related studies in three leading journals over a time period of six years. They identified studies exploring psychosocial ramifications of HIV on a total sampie of just under two and a half thousand individuals, yet only 13 subjects (0.5%) mentioned in all these studies were women.Mann (1995) notes how HIV shows a trend ofinevitable gravitation towards vulnerability. To what extent are women vulnerable and are pregnant women more so? With this vulnerability analysis in mind it is of interest to explore the way in which the epidemic has focused on women generally and on pregnant women particularly. The literature abounds with caUs for empowerment ofwomen. The problem with such a notion is that the concept of empowering presumes a passivity of women who need "power" and a corresponding active role for those who will provide the power. This has forrned the central c\amour in the evolving provision for women and requires some pause for thought. HIV, like any disease, brings in its wake an exposure of disease context. This reveals how women function within a society and how society responds to them. One of the problems of maintaining the caU for empowerment means that it imposes a male response onto wornen. Indeed the constant description in the literature on the extent to which women lack power is in itself demeaning and may endorse and perpetuate the imbalance they describe (Sherr 1995). A more useful analysis is one which attempts to understand the differences in reaction, interpret these and perhaps learn from the female response and highlight the positive aspect of female expression and reaction to the HIV epidemic. Such an analysis provides a revealing data set, which may weil help to relabel the notions ofpower. Wornen are less Iikely than men to abandon an HIV positive partner (Worth AIDS Education, edited by Schenker et al.