ETD Collection

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/104


Please note: Digitised content is made available at the best possible quality range, taking into consideration file size and the condition of the original item. These restrictions may sometimes affect the quality of the final published item. For queries regarding content of ETD collection please contact IR specialists by email : IR specialists or Tel : 011 717 4652 / 1954

Follow the link below for important information about Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Library Guide about ETD

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Condom use--South Africa

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Male circumcision and consistent condom use in South Africa
    (2017) Maakamedi, Tetelo
    Background: Evidence shows that circumcised men are less likely to be infected with HIV compared to their uncircumcised counterparts. However, critics have argued that adopting male VMMC as part of the comprehensive HIV prevention strategy might lead circumcised men to believe that they are completely protected against HIV. Consequently, this could cause them to neglect other HIV protective measures, such as consistent condom use. This study investigated the association between male circumcision and consistent condom use among sexually active men in South Africa. Methodology: The analyses were done using nationally representative cross-sectional secondary data drawn from the 2012 Third National HIV Communication Survey. The study sampled a total of 1899 single black men who were sexually active and were aged between 16-55 years. The management and analysis of the data were carried out using STATA version 14. Descriptive statistics were computed to describe the levels of male circumcision and consistent condom use in South Africa, and crosstabulations and a Pearson Chi-square test were used to assess associations between patterns of male circumcision and consistent condom use by selected variables. Bivariate and multivariate binomial logistic regressions were used to examine the socio-demographic determinants of male circumcision, as well as the association between male circumcision and consistent condom use. Results: The main findings showed that circumcised men were more likely (OR=1.18; C.I, 1.171 - 1.182) to consistently use condoms, compared to uncircumcised men. Furthermore, place of residence, education, occupation status and socioeconomic status were positively associated with consistent condom use. On the other hand, men who believed that they would get HIV, and those who were older than 24 years were less likely to consistently use condoms. While circumcision rates were lower in all the provinces compared to the Eastern Cape; Kwa-Zulu Natal and North West had the lowest odds of circumcision of all the provinces. However, both these provinces had the highest odds of consistent condom use compared to all the other provinces. Conclusion: This study found a positive association between male circumcision and consistent condom use. The findings revealed that, contrary to concerns that circumcised men may have a false sense of protection and therefore use condoms less consistently, circumcised men were more likely to consistently use condoms compared to uncircumcised men. There is, therefore, no evidence of risk compensation associated with circumcision. As a result, male circumcision should continue to be rolledout nationally, as part of an effective and comprehensive HIV prevention strategy. On the other hand, it is also evident that HIV prevention education targeting men is crucial, as men who believe that they will get infected with HIV and those older than 24 years need to be encouraged to practice safe sexual and HIV protective behaviours such as consistent condom use.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Factors that affect and influence condom use among young black men during sexual intercourse
    (2017) January, Sandra Long
    HIV/AIDS is a social epidemic that continues to impact the lives of countless young people in Southern Africa and possibly poses one of the biggest threats to adolescent health and sexuality; and is one of the main challenges faced by youth in their transition to adulthood. However, despite the fifteenth year running of the South African government’s HIV/AIDS programme, prevalence rates continue to increase annually pointing to disjuncture between government intervention and the causal mechanisms involved in the spread of HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, literature on men’s sexuality in Southern Africa remains embedded within a ‘predatory masculinity and female vulnerability’ paradigm which results in a gendered analysis of HIV/AIDS and a side-lining of the male perspective which then places young men at a high risk of HIV infection. Therefore, in an attempt to understand the disconnect between literature and high prevalence rates; and to contribute to a better understanding of men’s health and sexuality, a qualitative study using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews was conducted amongst young black heterosexual men (19- 25 years old) to discover the factors that determine condom use among young men living in an RDP housing settlement in Daveyton on the East Rand of Johannesburg. The research findings show that condom use in the sample is predicated upon the young black heterosexual men’s definition of masculinity, the nature of the sexual relationship and sexual partner, and – to a lesser extent - the social accessibility of the condom. As they move from adolescence to adulthood, there is a transition of their understanding of masculinity from one characterized by promiscuous sexual behavior where the use of condoms is seen to diminish the degree of one’s masculinity, to a masculinity fostered by responsible sexual behaviour and accompanied by condom use. The study also found that young men expressed a distance from the supposedly hegemonic view of violent masculinity and male dominance in sexual relationships and that the search for love and the ability to provide for one’s partner was what was most valued in young men’s self -conception of masculinity and sexuality. This then negatively impacted condom usage in romantic relationships as such relationships were perceived to contain less risk and it was assumed that they are predicated on trust; positing love as the biggest barrier to condom use. Furthermore, the study found that although condoms are physically and economically accessible, they are not socially accessible due to the stigma attached to sexual activity among adolescents – which results in a barrier to condom usage. Therefore, findings suggest that the government’s condom promotion programmes - based on the tenets of education (on the subject of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases) and physical accessibility of condoms - are largely inconsistent with the factors that determine condom use among young men. This implies that there is a need to develop tailored condom promotion programmes targeted at male sexuality