the role of faith-based organisations in hiv prevention and services

There was the feeling that FBOs should develop messages to address infidelity, but it was not clear
whether this was actually done:
Not everyone in the church has a partner who is in the church, and some men and some women are
in the church and their partners are not, and they have relationships outside of their relationship
with the partner, even though the partner is in the church. So the message… should be clear that
you could get HIV even if, when you are in the church.
In at least four FBOs, there was said to be variation in messages about HIV prevention. Among church
board members, leaders who are older, long‐standing members, whose opinions are strongly expressed,
would be most readily heard. FBOs involve a power structure and the leaders of organisations at church,
national or international levels can influence the nature and content of HIV prevention messages. In
one FBO, the world governing body decides on the appropriate prevention messages with respect
to HIV or other STDs. One leader receives direction from the regional office of the denomination in
Trinidad. Interviewees also emphasised that leaders at local or international level generally engaged
in information‐gathering and consultation before reaching decisions. Within churches, there may be
dissenting voices “but they’re not loud.” This implies that views that do not concur with established
doctrine tend to be ignored.
Some churches had an active programme to encourage abstinence among youth. A message was that
“just one sexual act can throw you over the edge for life”. In one FBO, both male and female youth were
encouraged not to be ashamed to proclaim their virginity. This leader expressed that there was the
understanding that there are youth who may “fall through the cracks, but you still keep loving them
and working with them”. Another interviewee acknowledged that youth tend to be curious about sex,
but said that they are encouraged to abstain and are given educated reasons as to why they should do
so, based on Christian values and principles. Some FBOs used testimonies from people affected
by HIV to reinforce the message. An interviewee gave the example of a female member who spoke of
her experience of nursing her daughter until she died, and the woman was said to have described the
experience in graphic detail. The interviewee recalled,
[She described] terrible suffering and I think that jolted some young people. I mean I have not
heard her message the last five years but I still remember it. It was so vivid, and it was said with
passion when she pleaded with… children and young people about the preservation of themselves.
Opinions regarding condom use varied. Some interviewees completely disapproved condom use,
whereas others acknowledged them as methods of HIV prevention among youth, or as birth control
for married couples. Among the latter condoms were seen as an inferior alternative to abstinence
and fidelity, not to be used “as a first line [of defence]”. Some interviewees stressed that condoms
should only be used by married couples as they were the only people supposed to have sex. This was
somewhat ironic since another interviewee pointed out that husbands are especially unwilling to use
condoms with their wives, though they may be willing to use them with their other partners.
CARIBBEAN HIV&AIDS ALLIANCE 37