Mozambican woman: Culture, tradition and gender issues in the feminization of the HIV/ AIDS

Abstract

This paper presents and discusses the daily experiences of 20 poor and HIV positive women living in Maputo city. It seeks to understand how they structure their daily lives in the context of the social relations they establish. It puts in communication issues of gender and other specific sociocultural and tradition issues in contact with the health field. These women experience a daily life marked by obstacles, challenges and confrontations as part of the feminized face of HIV/AIDS. They deal with different manifestations of vulnerability before and after infection, where gender relations and cultural and traditional practices contribute to the feminization of the seroprevalence scenario. Gender issues, cultural and traditional practices do not make them different from other women, but their serological status makes everything more stressful in their daily lives. These questions influence the process of infection and experience with the disease.