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Sex in Geneva, sex in Lilongwe, and sex in Balaka

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  • Tawfik, Linda
  • Watkins, Susan Cotts

Abstract

This paper compares three interpretations of women and the transmission of HIV in rural Malawi. One is disseminated world-wide by institutions with a global reach such as the World Health Organization in Geneva and United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the second is provided by urban Malawians situated in the capital of Lilongwe, the seat of government and the site of the many international and national non-governmental agencies; the third is articulated by rural women and men in Balaka District, Malawi. We focus on women's motivations for extramarital sex, using qualitative interview data. We find that whereas in Geneva and Lilongwe women from rural Malawi are said to engage in sexual relationships outside of marriage because they need money for survival, in Balaka they are said to be motivated not only by money for survival but also for attractive consumer goods as well as by passion and by revenge for a husband's infidelity. We also find that data collection procedures influence explanations for women's affairs, as does the respondent's gender. An implication of this study is that AIDS-prevention policies based on the view from Geneva and Lilongwe need modification for Balaka, and by implication for rural Africa more generally.

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  • Tawfik, Linda & Watkins, Susan Cotts, 2007. "Sex in Geneva, sex in Lilongwe, and sex in Balaka," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(5), pages 1090-1101, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:64:y:2007:i:5:p:1090-1101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Durevall, Dick & Lindskog, Annika, 2012. "Economic Inequality and HIV in Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1435-1451.
    3. Telalagic, S., 2012. "Domestic Production as a Source of Marital Power: Theory and Evidence from Malawi," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1243, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
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    5. Julia Cordero Coma, 2013. "When the group encourages extramarital sex," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 28(30), pages 849-880.
    6. Fielding-Miller, Rebecca & Dunkle, Kristin L. & Cooper, Hannah L.F. & Windle, Michael & Hadley, Craig, 2016. "Cultural consensus modeling to measure transactional sex in Swaziland: Scale building and validation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 25-33.
    7. Sikstrom, Laura, 2018. "“There was no love there”: Intergenerational HIV disclosure, and late presentation for antiretroviral therapy in Northern Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 175-182.
    8. Bove, Riley & Valeggia, Claudia, 2009. "Polygyny and women's health in sub-Saharan Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 21-29, January.
    9. Annika Lindskog & Dick Durevall, 2021. "To educate a woman and to educate a man: Gender‐specific sexual behavior and human immunodeficiency virus responses to an education reform in Botswana," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 642-658, March.
    10. Leigh Johnson & Rob Dorrington & Debbie Bradshaw & Victoria Pillay-Van Wyk & Thomas Rehle, 2009. "Sexual behaviour patterns in South Africa and their association with the spread of HIV: insights from a mathematical model," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 21(11), pages 289-340.
    11. Nicole Angotti & Margaret Frye & Amy Kaler & Michelle Poulin & Susan Cotts Watkins & Sara Yeatman, 2014. "Popular Moralities and Institutional Rationalities in Malawi's Struggle Against AIDS," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 40(3), pages 447-473, September.
    12. Stoebenau, Kirsten & Heise, Lori & Wamoyi, Joyce & Bobrova, Natalia, 2016. "Revisiting the understanding of “transactional sex” in sub-Saharan Africa: A review and synthesis of the literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 186-197.

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