Coping Strategies of Young Mothers at Risk of HIV/AIDS in the Kassena-Nankana District of Northern Ghana
Abstract
This qualitative study draws on interpretative principles with emphasis on understanding young mothers’ vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and explores coping strategies used to mitigate risk of infection in a poor rural setting of Ghana. Young mothers in their mid-twenties to early thirties and their male partners were purposively selected with the assistance of key informants for repeated semi-structured interviews. Respondents included those in monogamous and polygynous marriages with two or more living children, and those with and without formal education. Young mothers in this study setting are confronted with complex realities as childbearing obligations make protective sex less optional. However, more assertive women insist their husbands use condoms when they perceive themselves at risk. We conclude that the advent of HIV may advance the cause of women’s reproductive health empowerment by providing women with very strong reasons to minimize HIV risk within marriage (Afr J Reprod Health 2009; 13[1]:61-78).
RĖSUMĖ
Des stratégies adoptées par les jeunes qui risquent d’être séropositives dans le District de KassenaNankana du nord du Ghana. Cette étude qualitative se fonde sur les principes interprétatifs en mettant l’accent sur la compréhension de la vulnérabilité des jeunes mères au VIH/SIDA et explore les stratégies adoptées pour atténuer le risque d’infection dans un milieu rural au Ghana. Des jeunes mères qui ont dans les vingt-cinq et celles qui ont un peu plus de trente ans ainsi que leurs partenaires mâles ont été délibérément à l’aide des informateurs de afin d’avoir des interviews semi-structurées répétées. Les interviewés comprenaient ceux qui s’engageaient dans des mariages monogames et polygames et qui avaient deux enfants vivants ou plus et ceux qui sont instruits ou qui ne le sont pas. Des jeunes mères dans ce cadre d’étude font face aux réalités complexes car les obligations de la maternité rend l’acte sexuel protecteur moins facultatif. Néanmoins, les femmes qui sont plus affirmées, insistent pour que leurs maris se servent des préservatifs quand elles s’aperçoivent en danger elles-mêmes. Nous concluons que l’avènement du VIH peut avancer la cause de la santé de reproduction en donnant aux femmes les fortes raisons pour minimiser le risque du VIH au sein du mariage (Afr J Reprod Health 2009; 13[1]:61-78).
KEYWORDS: Coping strategies, HIV/AIDS, Northern Ghana, Vulnerability, Young mothers.
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