Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

With a lower social
status and limited
economic power, women
often cannot negotiate
safe sexual practices.
Some women expose
themselves to risk rather
than facing the scorn
heaped upon women
who don’t have
children.
Sexual coercion and
exploitation in schools
and the workplace
make women and girls
vulnerable to
HIV&AIDS.
custom is particularly rampant in some
areas of Ondo, Edo and Delta states. FGM
can cause serious consequences, including
death from excessive bleeding, as well as
from the use of unsterilized equipment that
spreads HIV and other infections. Several
responses from Ondo State revealed that
some people are aware of the link between
FGM and HIV&AIDS:
HIV&AIDS can be contracted through
circumcision for children and people that
do incision that involve the use of blade
and letting out of blood.
The aspect of our culture that can
increase the risk of HIV&AIDS is
through circumcision of children, tribal/
facial marks and tattoos. All these acts
should be stopped as they can cause
AIDS.
Widowhood rites as practiced in some parts
of the Niger Delta, such as Edo and Delta
states, may put a woman at risk by
requiring the woman to shave her hair,
which is usually done by older women using
old and unsterilized blades. Traditional
scarifications on the abdomen, chest, back
and/or hand are still performed in rural
areas and by the urban poor. Bodily
modifications such as piercing or shading
have been practiced throughout human
history for aesthetic, social and therapeutic
reasons—virtually all the Niger Delta states
have peculiar cultural body marks. But the
use of unsterilized instruments again can
expose people to HIV. Scarifications are
often done on several people at once, which
further increases the risk. And they are
normally not carried out in modern
hospitals, but by older community men and
women who might have acquired expertise
over many years. Other risky customs
include traditional barbering (shaving of
the head) and nail cutting to the skin, both
undertaken by barbers typically using
unsterilized blades or scissors.
Another socially approved traditional
practice in the Niger Delta that can foster
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is
polygyny. This custom is rooted in the
patriarchal nature of Nigerian society and
promotes multiple sexual partners. About
a quarter of married people in Nigeria are
in polygynous unions (National Population
Commission 2000). The practice is
prevalent in the Niger Delta, especially in
Ondo, Edo and Delta states. Those who
engage in polygyny seek to increase social
parity by establishing affinal relationships
and alliances. Having more wives usually
enhances the social status of the man,
and having more children is seen as giving
a man a greater chance of becoming
immortal. Ethnically, polygyny allows a
man and his lineage to establish political
and economic alliances with other lineages.
It also helps space childbearing, which can
be a survival strategy for women in lowincome
groups. The fidelity of all partners
in a polygynous relationship, however, is
critical for the avoidance of HIV&AIDS.
Another widowhood rite linked to
HIV&AIDS in the Niger Delta is levirate,
otherwise known as wife inheritance
(Owasanoye 1997; Inter-African
Committee 2000). The custom is based
on the principle of lineage continuity, a
privilege initially conferred on one
member of the lineage but transferable
to another on the death of the first. In
the Niger Delta, as in other areas of
Nigeria, the husband is usually the
administrator of a woman’s fertility,
acquired through the payment of bride
wealth. His death does not nullify the
marriage. Instead, it opens access and
control of the widow’s fertility to some
other well-defined member(s) of the
lineage, even if the deceased died of
AIDS. Levirate practices have been
documented in Ondo, Edo, Delta, Akwa
Ibom, Cross River and Imo states (Inter-
African Committee 2000).
Gender Relationships and
HIV&AIDS
Gender relationships are of great social
significance in the spread of HIV&AIDS.
Studies show that HIV prevalence is
typically higher among females—about 55
per cent of adults living with HIV&AIDS
in Africa are women (UNAIDS 2000: 3).
The majority were infected by age 25,
with women’s peak infection rates often
occurring at earlier ages than those of
men. In the Niger Delta, HIV&AIDS
prevalence is also highest among young
people and women. Gender issues are of
prime importance (Ezumah 2004) in
women’s heightened vulnerability, which
104 NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT