Sexual Practices and Levirate Marriages in Mansa District of Zambia
2010; Volume: 13; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1545-5556
AutoresThomson Kalinda, Robert Tembo,
Tópico(s)African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues
ResumoINTRODUCTION In June 2000, the National AIDS Council estimated that 830,000 Zambians over the age of 15 were living with HIV and AIDS. Over 54% of these were women, demonstrating a well-established pandemic across the population. An estimated 14% of rural adults are HIV--infected, as are an estimated 28% of urban adults (National AIDS Council, 2000). The severity of the AIDS epidemic in Zambia has therefore led to a search in the country for factors, including cultural practices that might facilitate the transmission of HIV. In Zambia, as in several other African countries, certain population groups are known to be particularly vulnerable. The epidemic has been categorized as increasingly affecting the youth and women, with proportions and numbers in these categories increasing rapidly and young women the most vulnerable of all (Reid, 1990; Adeokun, 1995). Women's risk is known to be compounded by a plurality of socio-economic and cultural practices both modern and customary. For example, the kinds of polygyny and multi-partner sex which were in the past partly by-products of late marriage and long period of sexual abstinence of wives between births may put couples at risk of contracting HIV, as sexual networks become geographically far flung, reaching distant centers of infection (Caldwell and Caldwell, 1993). Other persistent cultural practices such as wife inheritance and ritual cleansing of widows through sexual intercourse add to the vulnerability of both men and women for acquiring the disease. By encouraging dense networks of sexual contact, these cultural practices increase the risk of infection. Therefore, in order to reduce this risk of infection, there is need for changes to occur in cultural practices such as sexual cleansing, levirate marriage, polygyny, and extra-nuptial sexual relations. This study investigated sexual practices in two communities of Mansa District in Zambia. The specific objectives of the study were to examine local views on patterns of sexual behavior; determine whether extra-nuptial sex, sexual cleansing and levirate marriage are practiced in the context of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. METHODOLOGY The study was conducted in Mansa, a rural town in Luapula Province of Zambia. The district shares boundaries with the Democratic Republic of Congo in the west and south, Mwense District in the north-west, Samfya District in the east, Milenge District in the southeast and Luwingu District in the north-east. Mansa is the hub of the Luapula Province and connects to the Copperbelt through the Mansa-Chembe/ Luwingu road which also connect the district to the Northern Province. According to the 2000 Census, Mansa has a total of 36,882 households with a total population of 182,507 persons with an annual growth rate of 3.3% (CSO, 2000). The district has various ethnic groups with the Aushi being the largest group. There are the Lamba in Chembe area and the Ng'umbo in the eastern part of the district along the border with Samfya District. There are eight Chiefs in the district namely Kalasa Lukangaba, Chimese, Mabumba, Chisunka, Kalaba Mibenge, Matanda and Kasoma. There are also some Sub-Chiefs, namely, Kale Nsonga, Kundamfumu, Chamawabuseba, Chansa and Kapwepwe. Mansa is appropriate for the study since all the cultural aspects of interest are common in this area, that is, polygyny, inheritance, sexual cleansing and levirate marriage. Since these practices are also observed in some other regions of Zambia, any changes in these practices in Mansa may be extrapolated to some extent to other areas; the area can thus be used as a yardstick to measure socio-cultural responses to HIV and AIDS. Mansa is also the provincial headquarters of Luapula Province, and is therefore a melting point for all other districts. This has made it a fast--growing town as people from other districts come into the district for various activities including trading and prostitution. …
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