Education in Africa 
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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
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| Title: | Traditional Cultural Practices of Imparting Sex Education and the Fight against HIV/AIDS: The Case of Initiation Ceremonies for Girls in Zambia |
| Author: | Kapungwe, Augustus K. |
| Year: | 2003 |
| Periodical: | African Sociological Review (ISSN 1027-4332) |
| Volume: | 7 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Pages: | 35-52 |
| Language: | English |
| Notes: | biblio. refs. |
| Geographic terms: | Zambia Central Africa |
| Subjects: | girls' initiation AIDS Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Health and Nutrition Women's Issues Cultural Roles Health, Nutrition, and Medicine Medicine, Nutrition, Public Health sex education AIDS (Disease)--Prevention Traditional practices girls Initiation rites |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/24487376 |
| Abstract: | Realizing the threat of HIV/AIDS to the health of the population and the development of the nation, the government of Zambia embarked on a campaign to fight HIV/AIDS in 1985. However, so far this campaign has been conducted predominantly through modern channels of communication. The author argues that a lot more could be realized if traditional channels of transmitting information were utilized. One such channel is the traditional initiation ceremony. On the basis of data collected in five residential areas in Lusaka, the article examines the prevalence, structure and content of initiation ceremonies; awareness of the existence and seriousness of HIV/AIDS; and knowledge of its transmission and prevention among those involved in initiation ceremonies. The study finds that although there is no evidence to directly link initiation ceremonies to HIV/AIDS, indirectly the ceremonies enhance the spread of the disease in that girls are introduced to sex at an early age. However, the willingness expressed by most respondents to learn more about HIV/AIDS suggests that, if seriously looked into, the initiation ceremony could be turned into an effective traditional channel for disseminating information to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Bibliogr., note, sum. [ASC Leiden abstract] |
