Table
1: Summary of themes
associated to regional HIV prevalence.
Themes and sub-themes |
Description |
Region most prominent in |
Location most prominent in |
Financial
impact |
Having
little or no income affects sexual behavior |
Singida |
Rural
and urban |
Poverty
|
Poverty
drives women to trade sex for money for various reasons |
Iringa |
Rural
and Urban in Singida; urban in Iringa |
Idleness |
Young
men’s inability to find a job awards them free time and energy, during which
premarital sex and promiscuity is a common distraction |
Singida (only) |
Urban |
Economic
activity |
Activities
such as the transport of goods and construction affect sexual behavior |
Iringa |
Urban |
Alcohol |
Frequent
alcohol consumption is in direct connection to unprotected sex and
promiscuity |
Singida |
Rural
and urban |
Sex
and youth |
Men
and women start having sex at a young age; you are considered an adult at 16-years-old |
Singida |
Rural
and urban |
Premarital
sex |
Even
though it is prohibited, young man and women engage in premarital sex |
Iringa |
Rural
and Urban |
Liberal
parenting |
Liberal
parenting, and lack of supervision over their children leads to sexual
experimentation |
Iringa |
Rural |
Media
influence |
Pop
culture (on television) promote premarital sexual activity |
Iringa |
Rural |
Multiple
partners |
Men
(and to a lesser extent women) have multiple sexual partners and engage in
unprotected sex |
Singida |
Rural
and urban |
Religious
influence |
Because of religious pressure or education, people are only taught abstinence |
Iringa |
Rural |
Valuing
children over marriage |
Even unmarried women strive to have children, because otherwise they feel worthless |
Iringa |
Urban |
Lack
of education |
Lack
of sex education put people at risk |
Singida |
Rural
and urban |
Misconceptions |
Superstitious
beliefs (i.e. condoms cause cancer) affect behavior and sexual practices |
Iringa |
Rural
and urban |
Risky
practices |
Practices
that may potentially put people at bigger risks from getting infected with
HIV virus, such as prostitution and unsanitary health care |
Iringa |
Urban |
Infrequent
condom use |
General
attitude towards condom use is negative (e.g. condoms reduce pleasure, they
are uncomfortable using condoms) |
Singida |
Rural
and Urban |
Silence |
Absence
of conversations about sex, as well as the stigma on condoms |
Iringa |
Rural
and urban |