Gendered childcare norms — evidence from rural Swaziland to inform innovative structural HIV prevention approaches for young women

Abstract

Addressing discriminatory gender norms is a prerequisite for preventing HIV in women, including young women. However, the gendered expectation that women will perform unpaid childcare-related labour is rarely conceptualised as influencing their HIV risk. Our aim was to learn from members of a rural Swazi community about how gendered childcare norms. We performed sequential, interpretive analysis of focus group discussion and demographic survey data, generated through participatory action research. The results showed that gendered childcare norms were firmly entrenched and intertwined with discriminatory norms regarding sexual behaviour. Participants perceived that caring for children constrained young women's educational opportunities and providing for children's material needs increased their economic requirements. Some young women were perceived to engage in "transactional sex" and depend financially on men, including "sugar daddies", to provide basic necessities like food for the children they cared for. Our results suggested that men were no longer fulfilling their traditional role of caring for children's material needs, despite women's traditional role of caring for their physical and emotional needs remaining firmly entrenched. The results indicate that innovative approaches to prevent HIV in young women should incorporate structural approaches that aim to transform gendered norms, economically empower women and implement policies guaranteeing women equal rights.

Childcare and depression during the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa: A gendered analysis

“…We also note that our finding of a closing of the gender gap in childcare time between wave 2 and wave 3 contradicts earlier evidence on the change between wave 1 and wave 2 for men and women living with children as reported by Casale and Shepherd [13]. That said, the higher coefficient of time spent on childcare in the male regressions may not be unconnected with the fact that cultural norms have historically viewed childcare as largely a woman's job [34][35][36]. Thus, when men are forced by circumstances like COVID-19 to spend time on childcare above the norm, such may result in elevated risk of depressive symptoms.…”

Structural Influences on Consent Decisions in Participatory Health Research in Eswatini

“…Women are considered the property of their fathers until they become the possession of a man who has paid lobola (bride price, usually paid in cattle) for their hand in marriage (Daly, 2001). They are expected to submit to their husbands' demands (Russell, 1993) and do 'women's work' such as cooking, bearing children and caring for the young and sick (Brear et al 2019;Russell, 1993;Shabangu and Brear 2017), roles that confine them to the domestic sphere and limit their public participation. Anecdotally, power in rural Eswatini is also unevenly distributed based on education, age, economic and social status.…”