Zimbabwean stories of "Best Practice" - SAfAIDS

• Enhanced communication around sexualityThere was evidence that women were experiencing greater freedom to participate in discussions aboutsex in the home with their husbands and in the communities, even in front of headmen. The chipangamazanocommunity advisors, many of whom were women, reported that the headmen often gave them a platformat community meetings to talk about the dangers of certain cultural practices.A woman recounted the following story that shows not only a general community acceptance of the needfor men to use condoms in marriage, but also the ability of a woman to discuss issues of sex and sexualitywith a male in authority, in this case, the headman. Such a discussion would previously have been unimaginable."I was married to a man who everyone knew had many other partners. When he went away towork for a time, I knew he would not befaithful. So, when he returned home I toldhim he must use a condom, but he refused.I went to the headman and told him myproblem. The headman agreed with meand spoke to my husband, asking him touse a condom. My husband refused, andin the end I had to divorce him and theheadman agreed. My husband has sincedied, so if I had stayed with him, I wouldalso be dead."- Seke womanA nurse with Seke Rural, who had lived andworked in the area for 30 years, described howshe had recently sat in on a workshop discussing Figure 17: A happy couple, both HIV positivethe use of condoms, as part of the support groupservice offered, and was amazed at how freelythe women talked about sex. One implementernoted: "Just the dialogue in itself is a success" because it was a move towards openness in communication.Finally, one of the success stories held up by the community was that of the marriage of a couple who wereboth open and outspoken about their HIV positive status. The fact that they felt secure and confidentenough to share their status, and had even married, indicated that the stigma against those who are HIVpositive was being broken down, as were the barriers to communication between the sexes. In the past,spouses had preferred to keep their HIV status secret, even from each other (Mamimine et al, 2007). Thehusband in this example also stressed that he considered his wife his partner and that they came to jointdecisions in their household. His wife explained how the project had helped them communicate better sothat they could now offer each other greater psychological support. Figure 17 is a picture of the happycouple.• Access to information about HIVA beneficiary - an unmarried female youth in Seke - explained how the Culture Dialogue series had providedwomen and men with the same education on HIV and said this had given her confidence to insist on safersexual practices with her partner."Before, I did not want to say yes, but I had to, because I did not have knowledge. Now I knowI have rights, I know what is safe and I can say no if I want."- Unmarried female youth, Seke29