4 - Denial and violence:Paradoxes in men’s perspectives to premarital sex and pregnancy in Rural Zimbabwe
Corresponding Author(s) : Jeremiah Chikovore
African Sociological Review,
Vol. 7 No. 1 (2003): African Sociological Review
Abstract
This paper describes the perspectives of men on premarital sex and pregnancy in rural Zimbabwe. It is based on data collected using three qualitative methods including focus group discussions and individual interviews among men and women, and self-generated questions and statements among school youth. The paper illuminates the paradoxes of denial and violence implicit in the way men speak: as relatives on the one hand and as and as partners on the other regarding pregnancy in girls.The men say they react violently to premarital pregnancy, but neither do they tolerate sexual activity, or allow contraceptive information or service for unmarried daughters and sisters, even though their accounts paradoxically suggest that sexual abuse of young girls is rampant. Despite denying them preventive service and information, men speaking as partners expect girls to have knowledge about sexuality, the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. They blame their girlfriends for getting pregnant, despite indications from the accounts of the girls that it is male partners who pressure the girls into unprotected sexual activity. In such
circumstances, the girls say the pregnancy may translate into unsafe, induced abortion. These are complexities at the micro-level that need to be understood for any meaningful programme to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health.
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- Ahlberg B.M. 1994. ‘Is there a distinct African sexuality? A critical response to Caldwell’. Africa 64, 220-40.
- Ahlberg B.M, Jylkas E, Krantz I. 2001. ‘Gendered construction of sexual risks: implications for safer sex among young people in Kenya and Sweden’. Reprod Health Matters 9, 26-36.
- Barbour R, Kitzinger J. 1999.(eds.) Developing focus group research: politics, theory, and practice. London. Sage.
- Bassett M.T., Mhloyi M. 1991. ‘Women and AIDS in Zimbabwe: the making of an epidemic’. Int J Health Serv 21, 143-56.
- Batezat E., Mwalo M. 1989. Women in Zimbabwe. Harare. SAPES Trust.
- Campbell B., Mbizvo M.T. 1994. ‘Sexual behaviour and HIV knowledge among adolescent boys in Zimbabwe’. Cent Afr J Med 40, 245-50.
- Card J.J. 1999. ‘Teen pregnancy prevention: do any programs work?’ Annu Rev Public Health 20, 257-285.
- Central Statistical Office Zimbabwe and Macro International Inc. 2000. Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey 1999. Calverton: Maryland. Central Statistical Office and Macro International Inc.
- Chikovore J., Lindmark G., Nystrom L., Mbizvo M.T., Ahlberg B.M.. 2002. ‘The hide and seek game: men’s perspectives on abortion and contraceptive use within marriage in a rural community in Zimbabwe’. J Biosoc Sci. In press.
- Epprecht M. 1998. ‘The “unsaying” of indigenous homosexualities in Zimbabwe: mapping a blindspot in an African masculinity’. Journal of Southern African Studies 24, 631-652.
- Fetters T., Mupela E., Rutenberg N. 1998. Youth talk about sexuality: A participatory assessment of adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Lusaka, Zambia. Lusaka. Care Zambia and Population Council.
- Finlay F., Simpson N., Jones R. 1998. ‘Adolescent health services’. Arch Dis Child 78, 195.
- Fuglesang M. 1997. ‘Lessons for life -past and present modes of sexuality education in Tanzanian society’. Soc Sci Med 44, 1245-54.
- Gage A.J., Meekers D. 1994. ‘Sexual activity before marriage in sub-Saharan Africa’. Social Biology, 41, 44-60.
- Gelfand M. 1971. Diet and tradition in African culture. Edinburgh. Livingstone. Geographical Magazine. 2001. Geopolitics: Land rights and wrongs. Website:
- http://www.geographical.co.uk/geographical features/nov_2000_zimbabwe.html Glover K., Bannerman A., Miller R. 1997. Adapting reproductive health strategies to adolescent needs. Findings from three Ghanaian towns. Accra. Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana and The Population Council.
- Government of Zimbabwe. 1997. Maternal mortality statistics. Harare. Central Statistical Office.
- Guba E.G., Lincoln Y.S. 1989. Fourth generation evaluation. London. Sage.
- Gwagwa N.N. 1998. ‘Money as a source of tension: an analysis of low income households in Durban’. In M. Matseliso, A. Larsson & A. Schlyter (eds.) Changing gender relations in Southern Africa: Issues of urban life. Stockholm. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.
- International Political Economic Network (IPENET). 2002. The disintegration of immunity and subsistence: women. AIDS and ESAP in Zimbabwe. Website: http://csf.colorado.edu/IPENET/po497/tonia/paper.html Kasule J., Mbizvo M.T., Gupta V., Rusakaniko S., Mwateba R., Mpanju-Shumbushu W., Kinoti S.H., Padachy J. 1997. ‘Zimbabwean teenagers’ knowledge of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases’. East Afr Med J 74,76-81.
- Katapa R. 1998. ‘Teenage mothers in their second pregnancies’. In M.K. Rwebangira & R. Liljestrom (eds.) Haraka haraka…look before you leap. Youth at the crossroad of custom and modernity. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. Stockholm.
- Kebede T. 2001 Teens pay the deadly price of religious taboo. Website: http://www.panos.org.uk
- Koster-Oyekan W. 1998. ‘Why resort to illegal abortion in Zambia? Findings of a community- based study in Western Province’. Soc Sci Med 46, 1303-1312.
- Leach F., Machakanja P., Mandoga J. 2000. Preliminary investigation of the abuse of girls in Zimbabwean secondary schools. London. Department for International Development.
- Liljestrom R., Masanja P., Mkai C.P.B., Tumbo-Masabo Z. 1994. ‘The pubescent girl-past and present’. In Z. Tumbo-Masabo & R. Liljestrom (eds.) Chelewa, chelewa: the dilemma of teenage girls.
- Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. Stockholm.
- Lincoln Y.S., Guba E.G. 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry. London. Sage.
- Nare C., Katz K., Tolley E. 1997. ‘Adolescents’ access to reproductive health and family planning services in Dakar, Senegal’. Afr J Reprod Health 1,15-25.
- Oka T., Shaw I. 2000. ‘Introduction to social work research’. Qualitative Research in Social Work.
- Online Journal: Website: http://pweb.sophia.ac.jp/~t-oka/qrsw.html.
- Okpani A.O.U., Okpani J.U. 2000. ‘Sexual activity and contraceptive use among female adolescents - a report from Port Harcourt, Nigeria’. Afr J Reprod Health 4, 40-47.
- PANOS. 1999. Young lives at risk - adolescents and sexual health. PANOS briefing No. 35. Website: http://www.panos.org.uk/briefing/young_lives_at_risk.htm
- Population Council. 2001a. Gender, Family and Development. Website: http://www.popcouncil.org/gfd/gfd.html
- Population Council. 2001b. Adolescents and reproductive tract infections. Website: http://www.popcouncil.org/rhfp/rtifactsheets/adolescents.html
- Population Reference Bureau (PRB). 2000a. The world’s youth 2000. Population Reference Bureau. Washington.
- Population Reference Bureau (PRB). 2000b. Meeting young women’s reproductive and sexual needs.
- Population Reference Bureau. Washington.
- Quattara M., Purna S., Thomson M. 1998. ‘Forced marriage, forced sex: the perils of childhood for girls’. Gender and Development 6, 27-33.
- Reproductive Health Outlook. 2002. Men and reproductive health: overview and issues. website:
- www.rho.org/html/menrh_overview.htm
- Rich M., Ginsburg K.R. 1999. ‘The reason and rhyme of qualitative research: why, when and how to use qualitative methods in the study of adolescent health’. J Adolesc Health, 25, 371-78.
- Rivers K., Aggleton P. 2002 Adolescent sexuality, gender and the HIV Epidemic, Gender and the HIV Epidemic. New York. UNDP HIV and Development Programme. Website: www.undp.org/hiv/publication/gender/adolesce.html
- Rogo K., Bohmer L., Ombaka C. 1999. Community level dynamics of unsafe abortion in Western Kenya and opportunities for prevention. Summaries of findings and recommendations for pre- intervention research. California. Pacific Institute for Women’s Studies.
- Rwenge M. 2000. ‘Sexual risk behaviours among young people in Bamenda, Cameroon’. International Family Planning Perspectives, 26, 118-23 & 130.
- Silberschmidt M., Rasch V. 2001. ‘Adolescent girls, illegal abortions, and sugar daddies in Dar Es Salaam: vulnerable victims and active social agents’. Soc Sci Med 52, 1815-26.
- Siziya S., Rusakaniko S., Marufu T., Matchaba R., Mudyarabikwa O., Gwanzura L. 1998. ‘Adolescent pregnancy in Zimbabwe: distribution by socio-demographic factors’. African Journal of Health Sciences 5, 174-77.
- Sunday News. 2001. Lobola beyond the reach of many. 6 January. Bulawayo. Zimpapers. UNAIDS. 1997.
- Women and AIDS. Geneva. UNAIDS (Best Practices Collection).
- UNAIDS. 1999a. Sex and youth: contextual factors affecting risk for HIV/AIDS. A comparative analysis of multi-site studies in developing countries. Geneva. UNAIDS (Best Practices Collection).
- UNAIDS. 1999b. Gender and HIV/AIDS: Taking stock of research and programmes. Geneva. UNAIDS (Best Practices Collection).
- UNICEF. 1996). Report on an evaluation of the implementation of the Grade 7 AIDS Action Programme Book ‘Lets Talk’ in schools in Zimbabwe. Harare: UNICEF.
- UNICEF. 2000. ‘Domestic Violence against women and girls’. Innocenti Digest No. 6 May 2000. Italy. UNICEF.
- Van Onselen C. 1976. Chibaro: African mine labour in Southern Rhodesia, 1910-1933. London. Pluto Press.
- Women’s Action Group.1996. Speak Out/Khulumani/Taurai. Volume no. 35. Harare. Women’s Action Group.
- WHO. 1997. Unsafe abortion: global and regional estimates of incidence of mortality due to unsafe abortion with the listing of available country data. Geneva. WHO.
References
Ahlberg B.M. 1994. ‘Is there a distinct African sexuality? A critical response to Caldwell’. Africa 64, 220-40.
Ahlberg B.M, Jylkas E, Krantz I. 2001. ‘Gendered construction of sexual risks: implications for safer sex among young people in Kenya and Sweden’. Reprod Health Matters 9, 26-36.
Barbour R, Kitzinger J. 1999.(eds.) Developing focus group research: politics, theory, and practice. London. Sage.
Bassett M.T., Mhloyi M. 1991. ‘Women and AIDS in Zimbabwe: the making of an epidemic’. Int J Health Serv 21, 143-56.
Batezat E., Mwalo M. 1989. Women in Zimbabwe. Harare. SAPES Trust.
Campbell B., Mbizvo M.T. 1994. ‘Sexual behaviour and HIV knowledge among adolescent boys in Zimbabwe’. Cent Afr J Med 40, 245-50.
Card J.J. 1999. ‘Teen pregnancy prevention: do any programs work?’ Annu Rev Public Health 20, 257-285.
Central Statistical Office Zimbabwe and Macro International Inc. 2000. Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey 1999. Calverton: Maryland. Central Statistical Office and Macro International Inc.
Chikovore J., Lindmark G., Nystrom L., Mbizvo M.T., Ahlberg B.M.. 2002. ‘The hide and seek game: men’s perspectives on abortion and contraceptive use within marriage in a rural community in Zimbabwe’. J Biosoc Sci. In press.
Epprecht M. 1998. ‘The “unsaying” of indigenous homosexualities in Zimbabwe: mapping a blindspot in an African masculinity’. Journal of Southern African Studies 24, 631-652.
Fetters T., Mupela E., Rutenberg N. 1998. Youth talk about sexuality: A participatory assessment of adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Lusaka, Zambia. Lusaka. Care Zambia and Population Council.
Finlay F., Simpson N., Jones R. 1998. ‘Adolescent health services’. Arch Dis Child 78, 195.
Fuglesang M. 1997. ‘Lessons for life -past and present modes of sexuality education in Tanzanian society’. Soc Sci Med 44, 1245-54.
Gage A.J., Meekers D. 1994. ‘Sexual activity before marriage in sub-Saharan Africa’. Social Biology, 41, 44-60.
Gelfand M. 1971. Diet and tradition in African culture. Edinburgh. Livingstone. Geographical Magazine. 2001. Geopolitics: Land rights and wrongs. Website:
http://www.geographical.co.uk/geographical features/nov_2000_zimbabwe.html Glover K., Bannerman A., Miller R. 1997. Adapting reproductive health strategies to adolescent needs. Findings from three Ghanaian towns. Accra. Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana and The Population Council.
Government of Zimbabwe. 1997. Maternal mortality statistics. Harare. Central Statistical Office.
Guba E.G., Lincoln Y.S. 1989. Fourth generation evaluation. London. Sage.
Gwagwa N.N. 1998. ‘Money as a source of tension: an analysis of low income households in Durban’. In M. Matseliso, A. Larsson & A. Schlyter (eds.) Changing gender relations in Southern Africa: Issues of urban life. Stockholm. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.
International Political Economic Network (IPENET). 2002. The disintegration of immunity and subsistence: women. AIDS and ESAP in Zimbabwe. Website: http://csf.colorado.edu/IPENET/po497/tonia/paper.html Kasule J., Mbizvo M.T., Gupta V., Rusakaniko S., Mwateba R., Mpanju-Shumbushu W., Kinoti S.H., Padachy J. 1997. ‘Zimbabwean teenagers’ knowledge of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases’. East Afr Med J 74,76-81.
Katapa R. 1998. ‘Teenage mothers in their second pregnancies’. In M.K. Rwebangira & R. Liljestrom (eds.) Haraka haraka…look before you leap. Youth at the crossroad of custom and modernity. Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. Stockholm.
Kebede T. 2001 Teens pay the deadly price of religious taboo. Website: http://www.panos.org.uk
Koster-Oyekan W. 1998. ‘Why resort to illegal abortion in Zambia? Findings of a community- based study in Western Province’. Soc Sci Med 46, 1303-1312.
Leach F., Machakanja P., Mandoga J. 2000. Preliminary investigation of the abuse of girls in Zimbabwean secondary schools. London. Department for International Development.
Liljestrom R., Masanja P., Mkai C.P.B., Tumbo-Masabo Z. 1994. ‘The pubescent girl-past and present’. In Z. Tumbo-Masabo & R. Liljestrom (eds.) Chelewa, chelewa: the dilemma of teenage girls.
Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. Stockholm.
Lincoln Y.S., Guba E.G. 1985. Naturalistic Inquiry. London. Sage.
Nare C., Katz K., Tolley E. 1997. ‘Adolescents’ access to reproductive health and family planning services in Dakar, Senegal’. Afr J Reprod Health 1,15-25.
Oka T., Shaw I. 2000. ‘Introduction to social work research’. Qualitative Research in Social Work.
Online Journal: Website: http://pweb.sophia.ac.jp/~t-oka/qrsw.html.
Okpani A.O.U., Okpani J.U. 2000. ‘Sexual activity and contraceptive use among female adolescents - a report from Port Harcourt, Nigeria’. Afr J Reprod Health 4, 40-47.
PANOS. 1999. Young lives at risk - adolescents and sexual health. PANOS briefing No. 35. Website: http://www.panos.org.uk/briefing/young_lives_at_risk.htm
Population Council. 2001a. Gender, Family and Development. Website: http://www.popcouncil.org/gfd/gfd.html
Population Council. 2001b. Adolescents and reproductive tract infections. Website: http://www.popcouncil.org/rhfp/rtifactsheets/adolescents.html
Population Reference Bureau (PRB). 2000a. The world’s youth 2000. Population Reference Bureau. Washington.
Population Reference Bureau (PRB). 2000b. Meeting young women’s reproductive and sexual needs.
Population Reference Bureau. Washington.
Quattara M., Purna S., Thomson M. 1998. ‘Forced marriage, forced sex: the perils of childhood for girls’. Gender and Development 6, 27-33.
Reproductive Health Outlook. 2002. Men and reproductive health: overview and issues. website:
www.rho.org/html/menrh_overview.htm
Rich M., Ginsburg K.R. 1999. ‘The reason and rhyme of qualitative research: why, when and how to use qualitative methods in the study of adolescent health’. J Adolesc Health, 25, 371-78.
Rivers K., Aggleton P. 2002 Adolescent sexuality, gender and the HIV Epidemic, Gender and the HIV Epidemic. New York. UNDP HIV and Development Programme. Website: www.undp.org/hiv/publication/gender/adolesce.html
Rogo K., Bohmer L., Ombaka C. 1999. Community level dynamics of unsafe abortion in Western Kenya and opportunities for prevention. Summaries of findings and recommendations for pre- intervention research. California. Pacific Institute for Women’s Studies.
Rwenge M. 2000. ‘Sexual risk behaviours among young people in Bamenda, Cameroon’. International Family Planning Perspectives, 26, 118-23 & 130.
Silberschmidt M., Rasch V. 2001. ‘Adolescent girls, illegal abortions, and sugar daddies in Dar Es Salaam: vulnerable victims and active social agents’. Soc Sci Med 52, 1815-26.
Siziya S., Rusakaniko S., Marufu T., Matchaba R., Mudyarabikwa O., Gwanzura L. 1998. ‘Adolescent pregnancy in Zimbabwe: distribution by socio-demographic factors’. African Journal of Health Sciences 5, 174-77.
Sunday News. 2001. Lobola beyond the reach of many. 6 January. Bulawayo. Zimpapers. UNAIDS. 1997.
Women and AIDS. Geneva. UNAIDS (Best Practices Collection).
UNAIDS. 1999a. Sex and youth: contextual factors affecting risk for HIV/AIDS. A comparative analysis of multi-site studies in developing countries. Geneva. UNAIDS (Best Practices Collection).
UNAIDS. 1999b. Gender and HIV/AIDS: Taking stock of research and programmes. Geneva. UNAIDS (Best Practices Collection).
UNICEF. 1996). Report on an evaluation of the implementation of the Grade 7 AIDS Action Programme Book ‘Lets Talk’ in schools in Zimbabwe. Harare: UNICEF.
UNICEF. 2000. ‘Domestic Violence against women and girls’. Innocenti Digest No. 6 May 2000. Italy. UNICEF.
Van Onselen C. 1976. Chibaro: African mine labour in Southern Rhodesia, 1910-1933. London. Pluto Press.
Women’s Action Group.1996. Speak Out/Khulumani/Taurai. Volume no. 35. Harare. Women’s Action Group.
WHO. 1997. Unsafe abortion: global and regional estimates of incidence of mortality due to unsafe abortion with the listing of available country data. Geneva. WHO.