August 15, 2008

MEXICO CITY/GENEVA – "The men treat us like beasts and animals. They come in, have sex, and leave." This is how the wife of a Burkina Faso Christian described her marital life, Rev. Kouliga Michel Nikiema told a workshop organized at the Ecumenical Pre-Conference "Faith in Action Now!" which preceded the 3-8 August XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico. Nikiema is director of Vigilance, a Christian organization based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, which strives to break taboos within the church on subjects such as sexual health and HIV and AIDS.

Nikiema's work focuses increasingly on traditional gender roles which contribute to the spread of HIV, he said. By merely changing the relationship between men and women, the AIDS pandemic could be successfully controlled, he noted.

With support from the British relief organization Tearfund, Vigilance has become actively involved in relationship counseling. Nikiema organizes training workshops and seminars in which topics such as gender roles and sexuality are discussed. The aim is to involve the country's protestant churches in these activities.

The Vigilance director says new biblical interpretation can help call traditional role behavior into question. "Jesus came to reunite them. (...) being united is answering the prayer of Jesus, who said, ‘Let them be one, like you and me Father,'" he noted. He said he was convinced that the strategy was bearing fruit, citing feedback he had received that men were treating women with greater respect and that communication and sexual relationships have improved.

"Liberating Masculinity"

Rev. Charles Klagba from Togo, theological consultant to the Ecumenical HIV and AIDS Initiative in Africa (EHAIA), too, is convinced that AIDS prevention must address the gender problem. In this regard, EHAIA, a World Council of Churches project, has developed a new concept which he refers to as ‘liberating masculinity.' "We need to question the role society presses on us. (...) We always preach to women, they are well equipped, but when they go back [home], they are in the same framework as before and can't do much because men are still the same," stated Klagba.

The strongly patriarchal hierarchy makes it difficult or impossible for women to protect themselves, especially in African countries. According to the German relief agency Brot fuer die Welt and a position paper released by the Danish humanitarian organization DanChurchAid, the proportion of women who are HIV-positive is around 61 percent. "Women in these countries have no decision-making power. So they also cannot negotiate condom use or safer sex with their husbands," said Astrid Berner-Rodoreda, HIV and AIDS adviser for Brot fuer die Welt. Polygamy, she added, continues to be a widespread practice in many African countries.

New Position Paper

"Human Rights, HIV & AIDS Prevention and Gender Equality: An Impossible Cocktail for Faith Based Organizations?" is the title of a recent position paper for faith-based organizations. The paper was developed by DanChurchAid in collaboration with organizations such as Christian Aid (United Kingdom), Brot fuer die Welt (Germany), FinnChurchAid (Finland), Norwegian Church Aid (Norway), Interchurch Organization for Development Cooperation (ICCO) and Kerk in Actie (both in the Netherlands).

Jan Bjarne Sodal of the Christian Council of Norway and Martin Rosenkilde Pedersen, DanChurchAid program adviser for HIV and AIDS, presented the document at the Ecumenical Pre-Conference in Mexico City. The paper is intended as an incentive for other groups and organizations, in particular for partners in the South, Pedersen indicated.

The position paper calls upon faith-based organizations to strengthen women's right to reproductive and sexual health. "The right to decide freely when not to have children, to be protected from sexual coercion, genital mutilation or forced pregnancy and to have access to safe contraception that prevents the spread of HIV are key human rights and critical preconditions for any effective HIV prevention effort," the paper states.

Sodal criticized churches for having frequently supported and upheld traditional roles and inequalities, but at the same pointed out that breaking up traditional roles was a challenge for all human beings. "There are some deep-seated attitudes, stereotypes and patriarchal systems that are woven deeply into our being, into our social and cultural beliefs, traditions and norms. We are brought up with them. It is how we are socialized," she said.

"Are we actually able to step out of that completely? Both men and women are consciously and/ or unconsciously supporting them and keeping them up, the attitudes, the traditions and expressions of unequal gender roles," she remarked.

The position paper "Human Rights, HIV/AIDS Prevention and Gender Equality: An Impossible Cocktail for Faith Based Organizations?" is available in English in PDF format at: http://www.danchurchaid.org/content/download/16610/130375/file/AidsPaper_WEB.pdf.

Lutheran World Information
By LWI correspondent Julia Heyde.