The Women's Symposium
The Women's Symposium - Young HIV Positive Women and Sexuality
True to form, Lynde Francis spoke eloquently, making serious points by using personal experiences to bring them to life.
'At the Centre I head, which is run by and for people living with HIV, I have an eighteen-year-old girl training as our child counsellor. She has wanted to be a counsellor since she was fifteen years old. She was raped at fourteen and got HIV. Her family threw her out. She had told the truth, that it was her maternal uncle who raped her. She was subsequently put in the charge of her paternal uncle because none of her mother's family would have anything to do with her. When she came to us for counselling, he was creeping into her bedroom every night at 2am. We got her into a safe place. She herself has been in counselling for three years.
The other day I was asking her if she had a boyfriend. She said, 'I can't do that. I'm HIV positive.' I answered her saying, 'I'm HIV positive and I've got a boyfriend.' She looked at me and said, 'You're having sex?' I said, 'Yeah, very good sex.' And she said, 'But I can't risk infecting someone.' I said, 'But you can practice safe sex.' We have to let young HIV positive women know that, yes, they can have partners, yes, they can have a sex life.'
Prudence Mpala, a young HIV positive woman from Soweta in South Africa spoke with wit and insight on one of several inspiring panels during the Symposium. 'When we think about human rights, it affects both male and females. But it is much easier for young men to infect and re-infect their partners, so for most young men in my country the issue about sexuality and human rights doesn't exist because they are men and they have male power and therefore they are in total control of their relationships. As for females, we are seen as too inferior to take part or speak for ourselves about whether we want or don't want to have sex with our partners. I believe this inferiority and lack of self esteem is influenced by our cultural and sexual practices. My belief is that whenever sexual intercourse takes place there has to be a condom or 'Hey baby! we won't get jiggy with it.'
True to form, Lynde Francis spoke eloquently, making serious points by using personal experiences to bring them to life.
'At the Centre I head, which is run by and for people living with HIV, I have an eighteen-year-old girl training as our child counsellor. She has wanted to be a counsellor since she was fifteen years old. She was raped at fourteen and got HIV. Her family threw her out. She had told the truth, that it was her maternal uncle who raped her. She was subsequently put in the charge of her paternal uncle because none of her mother's family would have anything to do with her. When she came to us for counselling, he was creeping into her bedroom every night at 2am. We got her into a safe place. She herself has been in counselling for three years.
The other day I was asking her if she had a boyfriend. She said, 'I can't do that. I'm HIV positive.' I answered her saying, 'I'm HIV positive and I've got a boyfriend.' She looked at me and said, 'You're having sex?' I said, 'Yeah, very good sex.' And she said, 'But I can't risk infecting someone.' I said, 'But you can practice safe sex.' We have to let young HIV positive women know that, yes, they can have partners, yes, they can have a sex life.'
Prudence Mpala, a young HIV positive woman from Soweta in South Africa spoke with wit and insight on one of several inspiring panels during the Symposium. 'When we think about human rights, it affects both male and females. But it is much easier for young men to infect and re-infect their partners, so for most young men in my country the issue about sexuality and human rights doesn't exist because they are men and they have male power and therefore they are in total control of their relationships. As for females, we are seen as too inferior to take part or speak for ourselves about whether we want or don't want to have sex with our partners. I believe this inferiority and lack of self esteem is influenced by our cultural and sexual practices. My belief is that whenever sexual intercourse takes place there has to be a condom or 'Hey baby! we won't get jiggy with it.'