Research Portfolio Post #5: Research Topic Post

I am proposing to research the link between economic disparities in gender and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection rates in women because I want to find out why women are disproportionately more likely to be infected with HIV than any other population in sub Saharan Africa (SSA), in order to help my reader, understand how gender inequity in SSA may correlate to poor health for women.

In recent years, several countries in SSA have experienced an increase in HIV infection rates [1]. SSA accounts for 2% of the global population, but of that 2% 1/3 are infected with HIV. In other words, SSA is one of the few regions of the world where there is an increase in new infections of HIV. Unlike most other communities around the globe, HIV is a generalized epidemic in SSA. This mean as that the disease impacts more than the key populations (men who have sex with men MSM, injection drug users IDU, sex workers SW). However, due to concurrent relationships and complex sexual networks, women in SSA are significantly more likely to contract HIV in their lifetime compared to others in the region[2]. In SSA women are subordinate to men. This means that women have little negotiating power in sexual relationships, leaving them more at risk for HIV.

Economic disparities in gender facilitate the spread of HIV. This is largely due to the fact that risk for HIV is greatly increased by poverty. When a population doesn’t have money for food, clothing, etc. then they most likely will not prioritize sexual health. This may lead many women to become sex workers (SW) or behave in risky sexual behavior in exchange for gifts. Similarly, economic strife can increase intimate partner violence (IPV), which also puts women more at risk for contracting HIV[3]. Therefore, general economic health can influence a country’s HIV risk. However, I’m most interested in investigated how lack of economic opportunities for women increases their risk for contracting HIV. By economic opportunities I mean, access to education, healthcare, and business ventures. For example, because women are less likely to be educated in SSA, they’re also less likely to be formally employed, and therefore more likely to engage in risky behavior (i.e. sex work).

In recent years, Kenya’s economy has been struggling due to ongoing drought, weak credit growth, and security concerns[4]. This macro-level struggle leads to micro-level consequences. Meaning, fewer are employed and major industries such as agriculture are struggling, which lessens economic prosperity per capita. Similarly, economic struggle in the agricultural sector leads to food insecurity, which in turn leads to increased risk for HIV. A lack of access to food leaves women worrying about survival, rather than their sexual health. Economic strife leads to lack of economic opportunities which in turn leads to IPV and alternatives sex work. While there is a plethora of sources addressing HIV and IPV, there is a lack of literature addressing lack of economic opportunities, as I defined them, and a correlating increased risk for contracting HIV. Gender inequality in SSA is a serious socio-political issue today, and should be discussed in future research. If this issue is not researched further gender inequity will only increase, leading to a worsening epidemic in the region. Similarly, if economic disparities in gender is not addressed, then the economic prosperity of the region will worsen, possibly leading to political and social conflict as well. Researchers should be interested in what possible social intervention can be instituted in order to combat increasing infection rates in young women? What explains the current drought and struggling agriculture sector?

[1] Daniel T Halperin and Helen Epstein, “The Role of Multiple Concurrent Partnerships and Lack of Male Circumcision : Implications for AIDS Prevention,” The Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine, no. MArCH (2007): 19–25; Catherine MacPhail and Catherine Campbell, “‘I Think Condoms Are Good but, Aai, I Hate Those Things’:Condom Use among Adolescents and Young People in a Southern African Township,” Social Science & Medicine 52, no. 2001 (2001): 1613–1617.

[2] Kaymarlin Govender et al., “HIV Prevention in Adolescents and Young People in Eastern and Southern Africa Region: A Review of Key Challenges Impeding Actions for an Effectiv Response,” The Open AIDS Journal, no. 12 (2018): 53–67.

[3] Suzanne Maman et al., Leveraging Strong Social Ties among Young Men in Dar Es Salaam: A Pilot Intervention of Microfinance and Peer Leadership for HIV and Gender-Based Violence Prevention, n.d.

[4] The World Bank, The World Bank in Kenya, 2018; The National Treasury, Quarterly Economic and Budgetary Review, 2018.

References

Govender, Kaymarlin, Wilfred G.B. Masebo, Patrick Nyamaruze, Richard G. Cowden, Bettina T. Schunter, and Anurita Bains. “HIV Prevention in Adolescents and Young People in Eastern and Southern Africa Region: A Review of Key Challenges Impeding Actions for an Effectiv Response.” The Open AIDS Journal, no. 12 (2018): 53–67.

Halperin, Daniel T, and Helen Epstein. “The Role of Multiple Concurrent Partnerships and Lack of Male Circumcision : Implications for AIDS Prevention.” The Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine, no. MArCH (2007): 19–25.

MacPhail, Catherine, and Catherine Campbell. “‘I Think Condoms Are Good but, Aai, I Hate Those Things’:Condom Use among Adolescents and Young People in a Southern African Township.” Social Science & Medicine 52, no. 2001 (2001): 1613–1617.

Maman, Suzanne, Lusajo Kajula, Peter Balvanz, Mrema Noel Kilonzo, Marta Mulawa, and Thespina Yamanis. Leveraging Strong Social Ties among Young Men in Dar Es Salaam: A Pilot Intervention of Microfinance and Peer Leadership for HIV and Gender-Based Violence Prevention, n.d.

The National Treasury. Quarterly Economic and Budgetary Review, 2018.

The World Bank. The World Bank in Kenya, 2018.

 

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6 Comments

  1. Hi Lauren,
    Your research seems to be coming along nicely.
    I was wondering if you have looked at any of the case studies/research that surrounded the AIDS epidemic in the US and the Western world during the 1980s to help guide your research? Obviously, the backdrops of both of these issues are different but the issue itself hasn’t changed all that much in the past 40 years. This background could help you with some potential social intervention methods that worked and see if they have potential in Sub-Saharan Africa.
    Phoebe

    • Hi Phoebe,
      This is a very interesting point. I’ve thought about comparing HIV prevention methods from the first outbreak of HIV. However, today we have significantly more advanced medication that does much more in terms of reducing an individual’s viral load than any medication back then. However, current HIV research in the US is fascinating and I have been reading that. HIV in the United States contrasts HIV in SSA because it is specific to key populations. Contrastly, in SSA the disease is more widespread and impacts different populations more equally (except for young women). However, intervention strategies used in the US could be very applicable to SSA. Thank you for your help!

  2. Lauren – Your research question is well thought-out and incredibly interesting. I gathered from your post that economic opportunity for women or lack-there-of is the key independent variable. Are your three conceptual buckets levels of education, access to healthcare and opportunities for business ventures? Going back to the Lisa Baglione reading (Chapter 7) in which she shows us how to test out independent variable by isolating it and attempting to control all other variables, how will you control for each of these factors that contribute to overall economic opportunity? Your case study on Kenya was fascinating, I am excited to see where your project goes!

  3. Lauren–

    I’m really intrigued by your topic. I’m not incredibly familiar with issues regarding public health, and so it’s really refreshing to read your research topic proposal about something that I am not very knowledgable about, and something that seems very different from my project topic (although still related in their discussion of the need for greater infrastructure to support stability for women).

    One thing that grabbed by attention was your mention of “economic disparities in gender.” In one of the scholarly works I read for my research, called “Evaluation of Gender Disparities from Balkan Countries,” the authors discussed traditional indicators traditional gender indicators and claimed they are not adaptable to the “territorial context of the problem” of sexism in the Balkans [1]. Therefore, these scholars argued that the Balkans should be tested with several different indicators–cultural stereotypes, reproductive health, unemployment, longevity–and therefore put forth their own system of indicators to operationalize gender disparity and factor analyzed them, in order to truly understand the puzzle of Balkan gender disparity evolution [2].

    I’m wondering, what indicators have scholars in your topic area used in the past to assess “economic disparities in gender.” Do you agree with the indicators they used? Or do you think a new set of indicators might be necessary to fully understand the link between economic disparities in gender and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection rates in Sub Saharan African women? This is just something to think about as you look into terms you might operationalize in your research, and how you are going to do that (if you do).

    I can’t wait to see how your project evolves, and to learn about this fascinating topic from you!

    Best,
    Milena

  4. [6] Daniel Tudora, Alexandru Banica, and Marinela Istrate. “Evaluation of Gender Disparities from the Balkan Countries,” Procedia Economics and Finance 20, (2015), 654.

    [7] Ibid.

  5. Overall you have a good articulation of your puzzle here, Lauren. The statement of your general and specific questions (draft questions) could use a bit of work though. In your reply I’d like to see two clean, potential explanatory research questions — one general, and one case specific (highlighting the ideas of control and variation as per the Baglione reading) — that could guide your next steps. Remember that the questions should be centered on the “why…?” / “what explains…?” formulations that point to a specific set of outcomes / pattern of variation to be explained.

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