Trend Analysis of HIV Infection Rates amongst Generation X Black African Women in South Africa during the Period 2001 to 2010

Black African women in South Africa are poorly represented at managerial levels in the South African private sector since the advent of democracy. Their exclusion at these occupational levels persists despite the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) requiring that the private sector must ensure that all occupational levels are equitably represented and reflects the demographics of South Africa. The South African private sector demonstrates its lack of commitment to proliferating black African women into managerial positions by deliberately engaging in race-based recruitment and failing to develop and promote suitably qualified women into managerial positions. As such, the private sector is failing to create upward mobility for black African women to break the glass ceiling. The EEA requires the private sector to apply affirmative action measures in order to achieve equity in the workplace. It is submitted that since 1998, the private sector has been provided with an opportunity to set it own targets in order to achieve equity. However, 22 years later, black African women are still excluded in key managerial positions. However, the EEA does not specifically impose penalties if the private sector fails to achieve the set targets.This approach has failed to increase the representation of black women in managerial positions. However, the EEA does not specifically impose penalties if the private sector fails to achieve the set targets. Whilst this approach seeks to afford the private sector importunity to set its own target, this approach has failed to increase the representation of black women in managerial positions. Employing black African women in managerial levels enhances their skills and increases their prospects to promotions and assuming further leadership roles in the private sector. This paper seeks to show that the progression of black African women requires South Africa to adopt a quota system without flexibility that will result in the private sector being compelled to appoint suitably qualified black African women in managerial levels.

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Paradoxical Payoffs: Migrant Women, Informal Sector Work, and Hiv/Aids in South Africa

NEW SOLUTIONS A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy ◽

10.1177/104829110701700208 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 71-82 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gayatri Singh

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Informal Sector ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Significant Rise ◽

African Women ◽

Simultaneous Increase ◽

Migrant Women ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Black African ◽

Hiv Aids

In post-apartheid South Africa, there has been a significant rise in women's out-migration from rural areas and across its territorial borders for economic purposes resulting in gender reconfiguration of migration streams. Alongside, there has been a simultaneous increase in the participation of women in the labor force. However, this has mostly grown in the informal sector,1 which is often associated with low earnings and insecure working conditions. One consequence has been the increasing reliance of migrant women on survivalist activities such as informal sexual exchanges that increase their risk of contracting HIV infection. Insecure working environments also expose migrant women to sexual abuses. This article is based on the author's work in South Africa's major urban centers and examines the nature of the relationship between the increased migration of black African women in South Africa, the nature of their work, and their resultant vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

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Knowledge and attitudes about HIV infection and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in an urban, low income community in Durban, South Africa: Perspectives of residents and health care volunteers

Health SA Gesondheid ◽

10.4102/hsag.v21i0.949 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

pp. 171-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Firoza Haffejee ◽

Katie A. Ports ◽

Maghboeba Mosavel

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Health Care ◽

Hiv Infection ◽

South African ◽

Low Income ◽

African Women ◽

Hiv Education ◽

Testing Procedures ◽

South African Women ◽

Hiv Aids

Background: HIV prevalence is high among South African women of reproductive age and transmission of HIV from mothers to children is a concern. This study ascertained the level of knowledge about HIV infection and prevention, particularly prevention of mother toc hild transmission (PMTCT) amongst South African women from a low income community. It also established the challenges in delivering HIV education from the perspectives of health care volunteers.Method: Female residents (n = 67) from Kenneth Gardens, a low income community in Durban, South Africa were interviewed. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 health care volunteers who were either health care workers or residents who provided some form of social support in the community.Results: The majority of respondents indicated that a mother could transmit HIV to her child but were unable to specify how. Many women had general HIV/AIDS knowledge but were unable to identify essential prevention behaviours and were not very receptive to more information on HIV/AIDS. They were supportive of routine testing procedures and child bearing amongst HIV positive women. Health care volunteers indicated a need for a community clinic in the area.They also had limited knowledge of PMTCT and indicated that there was a need for more education on HIV, particularly to encourage the youth and men to use preventative measures.Conclusion: Innovative ways to impart knowledge particularly of PMTCT and updated standards of practice are essential. It is important that the community understands how transmission occurs so that prevention can follow.

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Discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy, denial of maternity leave and lack of conducive environment for nursing mother in the workplace in South Africa

Obiter ◽

10.17159/obiter.v41i3.9581 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 41 (3) ◽

pp. 593-607

Author(s):

Motlhatlego D Matotoka

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Maternity Leave ◽

African Women ◽

Research Approach ◽

Black African ◽

Women In The Workplace ◽

Policy Interventions ◽

Pregnancy Denial ◽

Conducive Environment

In South Africa, women continue to be discriminated against on the grounds of being pregnant in the workplace and sometimes they are denied maternity leave, breastfeeding and childcare facilities. Methodologically, using a descriptive and content analysis research approach, this article examines how the apartheid era restricted the rights of pregnant women in the workplace, particularly black African women. Post-1994 South Africa, the article utilised various protective transformative legal and policy interventions that have been introduced and are being implemented to address the problem of discrimination against women on the grounds of pregnancy in the workplace.

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DIFFERING HIV INFECTION RATES IN BRAZIL AND SOUTH AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF POLICIES AND PRACTICES

Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk ◽

10.15270/46-4-148 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 46 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Rafael Noronha ◽

André De V Smit

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Hiv Infection ◽

Comparative Study ◽

Infection Rates ◽

Policies And Practices

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HIV risk in a group of educated urban Black African women in South Africa: Private accounts of gendered power dynamics

Feminism & Psychology ◽

10.1177/0959353512439190 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 204-219 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Duduzile Phindile Mashinini ◽

Mary Pelton-Cooper

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Hiv Risk ◽

African Women ◽

Power Dynamics ◽

Black African ◽

Gendered Power

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Negotiating femininities on campus: Sexuality, gender and risk in an HIV environment

Health Education Journal ◽

10.1177/0017896918784693 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 77 (8) ◽

pp. 915-926 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Deevia Bhana ◽

Janet Pillay

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Sexual Risk ◽

Sexual Coercion ◽

Unwanted Pregnancy ◽

Safe Sex ◽

Female Students ◽

African Women ◽

Heterosexual Transmission ◽

Physical Assault ◽

Black African

Objective: In South Africa, Black African women between the ages of 15 and 24 years are especially vulnerable to HIV. The heterosexual transmission of the disease is exacerbated by social and cultural conditions that perpetuate gender relations of inequality. Problematic conceptualisations of femininity increase sexual risk. The objective of this article is to examine the ways in which undergraduate university Black African female students make meaning of gender and sexuality on campus and the social processes through which femininities are produced. Design: Qualitative research study. Setting: University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Method: In total, 10 in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 25 Black African undergraduate female students aged between 18 and 24 years old. Results: Campus life was conceived as a place of heterosexual freedom, sexual enjoyment and engagement with dating relationships. Relationships were forged based on romantic notions of love and versions of femininity based on trust lead to sexual risk and unwanted pregnancy. In the context of material inequalities, ‘sugar daddy’ relationships further limited female students’ ability to negotiate safe sex. The overall climate on campus was structured along gender power inequalities. Female students feared and were victims of verbal, physical assault and sexual coercion. The lack of campus security exacerbated female students’ vulnerability to violence on campus. Conclusion: Addressing the specific meanings expressed by Black African female students on campus can help to improve the effectiveness of campus-based health education interventions promoting safe sex, gender equality and student safety.

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Between Society and Self: The Socio-Cultural Construction of the Black Female Body and Beauty in South Africa

Qualitative Sociology Review ◽

10.18778/1733-8077.13.1.10 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 174-190

Author(s):

Ewa Glapka ◽

Zukiswa Majali

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Race And Ethnicity ◽

Female Body ◽

Cultural Construction ◽

Black Female ◽

The Body ◽

African Women ◽

Embodied Experience ◽

Black African ◽

Female Beauty

Interested in the socio-cultural construction of the body and beauty, this study investigates the embodied experience of Black African women in South Africa. The Black female body has been problematically positioned in the discourses of beauty. In the dominant, Westernized imagery, the physical markers of blackness such as dark skin and kinky hair have been aesthetically devalued. In the African traditionalist discourses, these body features have been celebrated as beautiful and invoked as the signifiers of cultural pride. This, however, has also been considered as a form of cultural imperative that holds women accountable for how they embody their relationship with their race and ethnicity. Most recently, cultural critics notice the aesthetic revaluation of Black female beauty and ascribe it to the global popularity of the African-American hip-hop culture. In this study, we explore how the socio-cultural complexity of Black female beauty affects the ways in which individuals make sense of their bodies.

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The Politics of Belonging: Exploring Black African Lesbian Identity in South Africa

Gender Questions ◽

10.25159/2412-8457/3140 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mikki Van Zyl ◽

Sarah Frances Gordon ◽

Amanda Gouws

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

African Women ◽

Contemporary Society ◽

African Continent ◽

Lesbian Women ◽

Lesbian Identity ◽

Black African ◽

Civil Union ◽

History Of

This article explores black African lesbian identity in South Africa and how lesbian women understand belonging. This is a contentious subject matter and is situated within a long history of heteronormativity and homophobia on the African continent, as well as the influences of colonialism and contemporary society. This history of heteronormativity and homophobia, combined with the Civil Union Act that gives South African lesbians and gays formal rights to marriage, has resulted in narratives in which contemporary black African women unravel the contradictions and emotions embedded in their struggles for belonging and identity in post-apartheid South Africa.

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Identifying HIV infection in South African women: How does a fourth generation HIV rapid test perform?

African Journal of Laboratory Medicine ◽

10.4102/ajlm.v1i1.4 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kapila Bhowan ◽

Emma Kalk ◽

Sonjiha Khan ◽

Gayle Sherman

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Hiv Infection ◽

Point Of Care ◽

Post Partum ◽

Rapid Test ◽

African Women ◽

Fourth Generation ◽

Third Generation ◽

Detection Rates ◽

Hiv Antibodies

Background: HIV rapid tests (RT) play an important role in tackling the HIV pandemic in South Africa. Third generation RT that detect HIV antibodies are currently used to diagnose HIV infection at the point of care. Determine Combo (DC) is the first fourth generation RT that detects both p24 antigen (p24Ag) and HIV antibodies (Ab), theoretically reducing the window period and increasing detection rates. Early detection of maternal HIV infection is important to mitigate the high risk of vertical transmission associated with acute maternal infection. Objectives: We assessed the performance of the DC RT against third generation RT in antenatal and post-partum women. Methods: Third generation RT Advance Quality and Acon were used in a serial algorithm to diagnose HIV infection in antenatal and post-partum women over six months at a tertiary hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. This data provided the reference against which the DC RT was compared on plasma and whole blood samples. Results: The 1019 participants comprised 345 (34%) antenatal and 674 (66%) post-partum women. Ninety women (8.8%) tested HIV-positive of whom 59 (66%) were tested antenatally, and 31 (34%) post-partum yielding prevalence rates of 17.1% and 4.6% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the Ab component of DC on plasma antenatally was 100% (93.8% – 100%) and 100% (98.6% – 100%) respectively and post-partum was 100% (88.9% – 100%) and 99.6% (98.8% – 99.9%) respectively. One false positive and not a single true positive p24Ag was detected. Of 505 post-partum women who tested HIV-negative 6–12 months prior to enrolment, 12 (2.4%) seroconverted. Conclusion: The fourth generation DC offered no advantage over current third generation RT in the diagnosis of HIV infection.

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