75% of all AIDs deaths currently occur in South Africa. (HIV) HIV is a sexually transmitted disease that currently is causing a massive amount of death. Anybody can be infected with HIV, however, there are certain people who are more at risk than others.
Women are especially at risk for HIV because of harassment and sugar daddies. Due to rape culture and misogyny, it is not uncommon for women to be sexually harassed. In sexual scenarios where women are not consenting, a condom is less likely to be used and therefore, HIV is more likely to be spread. It is not surprising that women often do not receive help from local police officers and other officials concerning sexual assault, considering that 70% of women who are sex workers have been sexually harassed by police officers. How can women be expected to get help from people that they watch take advantage of some of the weakest members of society? Women are also put in a difficult position when approached by sugar daddies who prefer unprotected sex. Having a relationship that fundamentally relies on the exchange of sexual acts for money, leads to one partner often engaging in riskier sexual acts that they wouldn’t otherwise be involved in. Money can be hard to come by as a woman because of inequality in the workplace. Many women who are submissive to their partner sexually in exchange for money use the money to buy items they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford in order to fit the gender roles society has imposed onto them. A large amount of these women also use this money to feed drug addictions that they would be otherwise unable to sustain. (HIV) Money and physical force can cause women to engage in unsafe sex and lead to the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Certain members of the LGBT community are also more at risk for HIV. Men who have sex with men are the first group drastically affected by HIV. Due to lingering homophobic social stigmas, gay and bisexual men do not always have the same access to condoms and sexual education that straight men have. Within the queer community, transgender people, specifically trans women are most likely to be infected with AIDS. In fact, trans women are 49 times more likely to get HIV than anyone else. Social stigma has a lot to do with this statistic as well. Trans people who are unable to get jobs, often resort to sex work. Due to the high coast of transitionary surgeries, trans sex workers may choose to engage in unprotected sex in order to earn more money. Trans people who acquire hormones on their own, may inject them with needles. These needles are often shared so HIV can be spread this way as well. (Transgender)
There are currently 7 million people in South Africa suffering from HIV and despite efforts from the government, there has been no substantial change in this number. Officials and civilians in South Africa must learn to work together in order to defeat this problem.
Works Cited
Anonymous. "HIV/Aids in South Africa." Anonymous. N.p., 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2017
"HIV and AIDS in South Africa." AVERT. N.p., 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
"Transgender People, HIV and AIDS." AVERT. N.p., 01 May 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
My favorite aspect of the piece is the information of your article, it taught me a lot that I currently don't know. I was shocked as to how much more likely it is to get HIV if you are a member of the LGBT community. I would wonder how the statistics on getting HIV and getting harassed change outside of Africa.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite aspect of this piece is how you focus on the people who are most effected by HIV and you give really interesting facts to back it up. My main take-away from this article is how serious the problem of HIV is in Africa and how much help is needed there to fight it. One question I would have is what is currently being done to fight HIV in Africa?
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