O Icheke National Campaign Plan - CONCURRENT SEXUAL ...

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National Campaign Plan: Multiple Concurrent Partnerships14By focussing on their primary partner, they will also develop the ability to resolve sex and relationshipproblems, leading to greater sexual satisfaction (further reinforcing their primary partner’s fidelity). Finally,they will benefit financially, becoming free from the stress of impressing and maintaining different partnersand gaining more money to spend on their children. As with young women, there is a critical communicationschallenge with men, namely that the sexual benefits of MCP are immediate and tangible and the benefits ofchanging behaviour are intangible and take time to be felt.The first phase of the campaign that focuses on raising awareness about concurrency and HIVrisk will be key in priming men for the subsequent phases. By focussing on knowledge and risk perception,early messages will change men’s evaluation of benefits of MCP, such as choosing among different partners,ease of moving on if one partnership ends, peer prestige from having different partners, sexual satisfaction,and never having to sleep alone. The first communications challenge of the campaign will be to reduce men’sperception of the net benefit of MCP when weighed in a more informed way against the HIV risks involvedin concurrency and thus make them more open and receptive to the alternatives and solutions that willsubsequently be promoted.After awareness-raising, messages for men will promote more satisfying primary partnerrelationships as the benefit of sticking to one partner, alongside alternative mindsets about masculinityand sex. The campaign will promote new norms about masculinity that are not about bedding morewomen than the next man, but about being a son and father to be proud of, and a lover whose woman wouldnever need to look elsewhere. As with young women, promoting new values will involve a communicationsobjective relating to changing the nature of peer friendships. The campaign will promote new norms aboutmale friendships where harmful competition to have more partners is replaced by male friendships thatsupport each other’s primary partnerships.At the individual level, key to promoting relationships will be equipping men with the tools and confidenceto communicate with their primary partner about sexual and relationship issues and problems, because anoften-cited motive for taking other partners is lack of sexual satisfaction within the primary partnership. Thekey benefit for men of better communications within relationships will be healthier, more stable andmore sexually satisfying primary partnerships. Once men cease to look elsewhere for sexualsatisfaction and variety, they will also benefit from reduced stress about interference (for example unwantedpregnancy) in their primary relationships and a surer guarantee of their primary partner’s fidelity: a womanwho is sexually satisfied and does not need revenge is much likely to be unfaithful.Finally, the campaign will promote a mindset in which sex is linked to relationships, love andemotional commitment. This will be complementary to promotion of primary partnerships because mencurrently find it easy to mentally de-link looking for sexual satisfaction elsewhere and their emotionalcommitment to their primary partner.4.5 Stages of Behaviour Change and Evolving MessagesThe illustrative messaging sequence targeting young women is presented below in order to demonstrate thecampaign’s approach to messaging. This approach is based on known drivers of risk behaviour and barrier tobehaviour change and on behaviour change theory relating to stages of change.
National Campaign Plan: Multiple Concurrent Partnerships 15Phase 1Current behaviour and drivers: have different, older partners to provide material benefits that they cannot afford themselves; competewith friends over material goods, in order to be like their role models, namely those who have more than they do.Current stage of behaviour change: have general awareness about HIV but lack specific awareness about MCP risk; are notthinking about changing behaviour or are rationalizing reasons not to change, such as needing the material benefits that older partnersprovide and having low expectations of male sexual fidelity.Message focus: knowledge about MCP riskCommunications objectives: young women reassess and discuss the HIV risk associated with their relationships with oldermen.Phase 2Stage of behaviour change: now aware that having concurrent partnerships puts them at risk of HIV, and more concerned that theyare putting themselves at risk; however, they have no other way to obtain the material goods they need to keep up with peers andimprove their lives, and their male partners still have other partners.Message focus: materialismCommunications objectives: young women are encouraged to reassess the importance of material goods relative to the HIVrisk of the sexual partnerships they entail.Phase 3Stage of behaviour change: aware of MCP risk and motivated to try to reduce partnerships with older men; however they are finding itdifficult to resist the temptation of the material goods that others are still receiving; also still sure that their boyfriends and olderpartners have other partners.Message focus: dignity / self-worthCommunications objectives: young women question what makes them who they are – what they own or wear, or their culture,roots, character and personal achievements, and begin to see an alternative identity portrayed and championed around them.Phase 4Stage of behaviour change: aware of MCP risk and motivated to try to reduce partnerships with older men; however they are findingit difficult to resist the temptation of the material goods that others are still receiving; also still sure that their boyfriends and olderpartners have other partners.Message focus: future relationship aspirationsCommunications objectives: young women think about the costs of MCP not just in terms of HIV risk, but in terms ofundermining their future relationship prospects if men view them as ‘used up’; they do not want to be viewed as ‘easy’, either now orin the future.Phase 5Stage of behaviour change: reappraising the costs and benefits of MCP for material gain and reducing partnerships; however, it is hardto be different to their friends so even though they have fewer older partners, they cannot resist all the time; they still know that theirboyfriends and older partners have other partners anyway and are concerned about this risk.Message focus: peer social supportCommunications objectives: as more young women desist from MCP, new norms about real friendship develop, involvingpositive affirmation between peers for being true to themselves and not going with older men for material gain.Phase 6Stage of behaviour change: young women have accepted that the risks of partnerships with older men outweigh the material benefits,and are supporting each other to resist temptation, stay safe and keep their dignity; lapses are now driven more by their primarypartners’ infidelity than by material gain.Message focus: self-efficacy to confront and, if necessary, leave an unfaithful partnerCommunications objectives: young women receive encouragement from their friends and family to take control of HIV risk intheir lives and no longer tolerate men whose engagement in MCP puts them at risk.
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O Icheke National Campaign Plan - CONCURRENT SEXUAL ...

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