2005 Programme Session 5

Session 5: States of Desire—Geographical and Religious
Chair: Jodi O'Brien

Sexing the Caribbean: HIV/AIDS as a Problem of Gender and Sexuality
Suzanne M. Charles
The Centre for Gender and Development Studies, The University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica

HIV / AIDS is no longer striking primarily [white, homosexual] men. Due in part to their unique physiology, and to the fact that accepted predictors of disease progression, such as viral loads are not always accurate predictors for women, rates of female infection continue to rise. Today, more than 20 years into the epidemic, women account for nearly half of the 40 million people living with HIV worldwide...women aged 15- 24 are more than three times as likely to be infected as young men…[and] women know less than men about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and how to prevent infection.
In the Caribbean, increasingly, HIV/AIDS is becoming a heterosexual (Black) woman’s disease, with most infections occurring in women in (presumed) committed relationships. Interventions to date have included attempts to improve medical treatment and care as well as to raise public awareness of the disease, with the intention of curbing the negative social stigma, discriminatory practices & marginalisation associated with the disease. These interventions however, focus on “after the fact” care and fail to address the underlying gendered push- factors that contribute to the disparity in rates of infection for women.
Additionally, while some interventions do appear to adopt a preventative / proactive approach, they (at times) reinforce the stereotypes and power dynamics that lead to the very behaviour that facilitates the spread of the disease: that men are macho and are to enjoy sexual and other licence and control, that women are weak and lack personal agency; but are subject to the machismo and licence of men, that sexuality is to be controlled (by agents of the state) and that only sexualities with social currency are to be considered as legitimate.
This paper/presentation will explore the degree to which current and future interventions require a new paradigm which maintains a more progressive and sustainable approach to dealing with the feminisation of HIV/AIDS, revolving around an understanding that “the real forces propelling the spread of HIV among women do not whirlwind from the act of intercourse ... they are set in motion by a well-steeped societal order that makes women socially subordinate and economically dependent”[2] More specifically, it will examine the need for fundamental changes in the non-epidemiological understandings (gender norms and behaviours, socio-economic-factors) of why women and men become infected with and affected by the disease, and the disparities between rates of infection.
It will explore Issues of Gender socialization and stereotyping in the Caribbean, as well as issues of power that shape gender relations, with implications for how women are able to exercise agency in sexual relations and the extent to which they have decision making power, (e.g. to have sex or not and how) and control over resources with which to effect decisions (e.g. the use of condoms).
Additionally, it will also explore issues of:
1.Power dynamics in families, which result in incest / forced sexual encounters / abuse and other health crises
2.Early sexual initiation by boys as a rite of passage but of girls as an indication of esteem issues.
3.Gendered perceptions of the health care system where males are not encouraged to seek care, as illness is a sign of weakness and equated with femininity.
4.How roles are assigned to persons in families, with regards to care of other individuals, and the impact this may have on care of self, particularly for women, on whom the burden of care usually falls

Voicing Gay Experience in South Africa (2002-2005): Democratization, Minorities and Cyberspace
Neil Cochrane
Department of Afrikaans, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Since the early 1980`s gay experience has increasingly emerged within the South African literary canon and literary establishment, especially with regard to Afrikaans literature. Well-known Afrikaans authors like Johann de Lange, Koos Prinsloo and Joan Hambidge increasingly became more daring with regard to homo-erotic themes unknown to the reading public before.
In 1999 Homeros Publishers, an imprint within the enormous Naspers media group was established for the promotion of gay literature in Afrikaans. This could be seen as a major breakthrough in giving prominence to the gay voice as a literary and cultural minority within the South African publishing industry. Unfortunately Homeros had to close down within three years due to financial considerations.
In 2002, South African authors writing about gay experience received a new platform called Gay@Litnet, a subdivision of the well-established literary e-journal, Litnet, dedicated “to voice South African culture”.
The central research question this paper wishes to address is as follows: what is the role and contribution of Gay@Litnet to the democratization of post Apartheid South African society?
Firstly the value-adding properties of Gay@Litnet as an electronic platform in giving voice to South African gay experience as part of a larger democratization process will be investigated. Attention will be given to value-adding properties like wider audiences, increased interaction between author and end-user, integration with main stream culture and the stimulation of healthy debate concerning gay related issues.
Secondly the shortcomings of Gay@Litnet as a platform will be analyzed by focusing on issues like stereotyping, separation, labeling, lack of multidimensional perspectives and other problems related to an “all for one and one for all approach”.

Download Conference Paper -

Sexual Exploitation: A Form of Human Rights Abuse in Cameroon
Ebeneza Nkafu and Forche Michael Nkimbi
Action Centre for Rural Community Development, Buea, South West Province, Cameroon

On December 10 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to article 5, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Consequently this article embodies the aspect of sexual exploitation.
Today, most countries in the world seem to neglect this form of human right abuse, which is eating deep into the fabrics of our societies. In Cameroon, there are many forms of sexual exploitation, which have been detrimental to women especially the poor teens (school children and patients).
This paper is going to examine and analyse the various forms of sexual exploitation practised in Cameroon. It will also critically analyse why these group of persons of this sexual exploitation. The paper will continue to examine and analyse the impact of this form of human right abuse to the victims and later to the socio-economic development of the country. Further this research paper will critically examine the role the government is putting in place in curbing or eradicating these gruesome crimes. It will analyse to what extent the government to end this form of human right abuse.
Finally the paper will dwell on alternative ways of rehabilitating these sexually traumatised persons in Cameroon.

Joy, Sexuality, and Regulations in the Qur’an and Islamic Law: The Actual and Promised Contexts
Osman Tastan
Professor of Islamic Law, University of Ankara, Turkey

The Qur’an includes regulations concerning marriage and divorce, and varying gender related themes as civil and societal issues. It also extends its regulations to sexual life, relevant offences and penalties. Thus, it provides a source for Islamic law to develop further regulations. Despite the limits brought to sexual life in terms of personal and civil laws by the Qur’an, the essence of the human desire for joy and sexuality is tacitly acknowledged as bearing the limits on joy and sexual life is rewarded in the Hereafter by the relatively unlimited extent of pleasure and sexuality. Islamic law develops theoretical contexts of the basically Qur’anic regulations in order both to elaborate and to justify the rationale of such regulations, and the details of the conditions of the set penalties to be applied. In terms of proving the rationale of the Qur’anic regulations, Muslim jurists principally argue against the adultery in support of the protection of the family values, and in the meantime, stress the significance of the privacy; thus making it extremely difficult to prove a case of adultery. Along such main policies, the details in theoretical arguments, suggests, at least in Abu Hanifa’s approach, that the adultery is somehow related to a high level of sexual joy too. The sexual joy that is regulated and, in a sense, limited by law on the basis of religious arrangements is promised in further fantastic terms in the Hereafter. Thus, the human desire in terms of joy and sexuality is both limited (as in the Islamic legal arrangements) and acknowledged (as envisioned in the Qur’anic description of the Heaven concerning woman, sexuality and wine).
This paper would shed light upon various aspects of joy and sexuality in the contexts of the Qur’an and Islamic law, and underline the affinity between the limited and the unlimited or the present and the promised, as well as highlighting the perceptions of beauty, joy, sexuality, and pleasure as reflected in certain Qur’anic descriptions.



2nd Global Conference Wednesday 30th November - Saturday 3rd December 2005 Vienna, Austria Conference Programme, Abstracts and Papers
Session 5: States of Desire—Geographical and Religious Chair: Jodi O'Brien Sexing the Caribbean: HIV/AIDS as a Problem of Gender and Sexuality Suzanne M. Charles The Centre for Gender and Development Studies, The University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica HIV / AIDS is no longer striking primarily [white, homosexual] men. Due in part to their unique physiology, and to the fact that accepted predictors of disease progression, such as viral loads are not always accurate predictors for women, rates of female infection continue to rise. Today, more than 20 years into the epidemic, women account for nearly half of the 40 million people living with HIV worldwide...women aged 15- 24 are more than three times as likely to be infected as young men…[and] women know less than men about how HIV/AIDS is transmitted and how to prevent infection. In the Caribbean, increasingly, HIV/AIDS is becoming a heterosexual (Black) woman’s disease, with most infections occurring in women in (presumed) committed relationships. Interventions to date have included attempts to improve medical treatment and care as well as to raise public awareness of the disease, with the intention of curbing the negative social stigma, discriminatory practices & marginalisation associated with the disease. These interventions however, focus on “after the fact” care and fail to address the underlying gendered push- factors that contribute to the disparity in rates of infection for women. Additionally, while some interventions do appear to adopt a preventative / proactive approach, they (at times) reinforce the stereotypes and power dynamics that lead to the very behaviour that facilitates the spread of the disease: that men are macho and are to enjoy sexual and other licence and control, that women are weak and lack personal agency; but are subject to the machismo and licence of men, that sexuality is to be controlled (by agents of the state) and that only sexualities with social currency are to be considered as legitimate. This paper/presentation will explore the degree to which current and future interventions require a new paradigm which maintains a more progressive and sustainable approach to dealing with the feminisation of HIV/AIDS, revolving around an understanding that “the real forces propelling the spread of HIV among women do not whirlwind from the act of intercourse ... they are set in motion by a well-steeped societal order that makes women socially subordinate and economically dependent”[2] More specifically, it will examine the need for fundamental changes in the non-epidemiological understandings (gender norms and behaviours, socio-economic-factors) of why women and men become infected with and affected by the disease, and the disparities between rates of infection. It will explore Issues of Gender socialization and stereotyping in the Caribbean, as well as issues of power that shape gender relations, with implications for how women are able to exercise agency in sexual relations and the extent to which they have decision making power, (e.g. to have sex or not and how) and control over resources with which to effect decisions (e.g. the use of condoms). Additionally, it will also explore issues of: 1.Power dynamics in families, which result in incest / forced sexual encounters / abuse and other health crises 2.Early sexual initiation by boys as a rite of passage but of girls as an indication of esteem issues. 3.Gendered perceptions of the health care system where males are not encouraged to seek care, as illness is a sign of weakness and equated with femininity. 4.How roles are assigned to persons in families, with regards to care of other individuals, and the impact this may have on care of self, particularly for women, on whom the burden of care usually falls Voicing Gay Experience in South Africa (2002-2005): Democratization, Minorities and Cyberspace Neil Cochrane Department of Afrikaans, University of Pretoria, South Africa Since the early 1980`s gay experience has increasingly emerged within the South African literary canon and literary establishment, especially with regard to Afrikaans literature. Well-known Afrikaans authors like Johann de Lange, Koos Prinsloo and Joan Hambidge increasingly became more daring with regard to homo-erotic themes unknown to the reading public before. In 1999 Homeros Publishers, an imprint within the enormous Naspers media group was established for the promotion of gay literature in Afrikaans. This could be seen as a major breakthrough in giving prominence to the gay voice as a literary and cultural minority within the South African publishing industry. Unfortunately Homeros had to close down within three years due to financial considerations. In 2002, South African authors writing about gay experience received a new platform called Gay@Litnet, a subdivision of the well-established literary e-journal, Litnet, dedicated “to voice South African culture”. The central research question this paper wishes to address is as follows: what is the role and contribution of Gay@Litnet to the democratization of post Apartheid South African society? Firstly the value-adding properties of Gay@Litnet as an electronic platform in giving voice to South African gay experience as part of a larger democratization process will be investigated. Attention will be given to value-adding properties like wider audiences, increased interaction between author and end-user, integration with main stream culture and the stimulation of healthy debate concerning gay related issues. Secondly the shortcomings of Gay@Litnet as a platform will be analyzed by focusing on issues like stereotyping, separation, labeling, lack of multidimensional perspectives and other problems related to an “all for one and one for all approach”. Download Conference Paper - Sexual Exploitation: A Form of Human Rights Abuse in Cameroon Ebeneza Nkafu and Forche Michael Nkimbi Action Centre for Rural Community Development, Buea, South West Province, Cameroon On December 10 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to article 5, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Consequently this article embodies the aspect of sexual exploitation. Today, most countries in the world seem to neglect this form of human right abuse, which is eating deep into the fabrics of our societies. In Cameroon, there are many forms of sexual exploitation, which have been detrimental to women especially the poor teens (school children and patients). This paper is going to examine and analyse the various forms of sexual exploitation practised in Cameroon. It will also critically analyse why these group of persons of this sexual exploitation. The paper will continue to examine and analyse the impact of this form of human right abuse to the victims and later to the socio-economic development of the country. Further this research paper will critically examine the role the government is putting in place in curbing or eradicating these gruesome crimes. It will analyse to what extent the government to end this form of human right abuse. Finally the paper will dwell on alternative ways of rehabilitating these sexually traumatised persons in Cameroon. Joy, Sexuality, and Regulations in the Qur’an and Islamic Law: The Actual and Promised Contexts Osman Tastan Professor of Islamic Law, University of Ankara, Turkey The Qur’an includes regulations concerning marriage and divorce, and varying gender related themes as civil and societal issues. It also extends its regulations to sexual life, relevant offences and penalties. Thus, it provides a source for Islamic law to develop further regulations. Despite the limits brought to sexual life in terms of personal and civil laws by the Qur’an, the essence of the human desire for joy and sexuality is tacitly acknowledged as bearing the limits on joy and sexual life is rewarded in the Hereafter by the relatively unlimited extent of pleasure and sexuality. Islamic law develops theoretical contexts of the basically Qur’anic regulations in order both to elaborate and to justify the rationale of such regulations, and the details of the conditions of the set penalties to be applied. In terms of proving the rationale of the Qur’anic regulations, Muslim jurists principally argue against the adultery in support of the protection of the family values, and in the meantime, stress the significance of the privacy; thus making it extremely difficult to prove a case of adultery. Along such main policies, the details in theoretical arguments, suggests, at least in Abu Hanifa’s approach, that the adultery is somehow related to a high level of sexual joy too. The sexual joy that is regulated and, in a sense, limited by law on the basis of religious arrangements is promised in further fantastic terms in the Hereafter. Thus, the human desire in terms of joy and sexuality is both limited (as in the Islamic legal arrangements) and acknowledged (as envisioned in the Qur’anic description of the Heaven concerning woman, sexuality and wine). This paper would shed light upon various aspects of joy and sexuality in the contexts of the Qur’an and Islamic law, and underline the affinity between the limited and the unlimited or the present and the promised, as well as highlighting the perceptions of beauty, joy, sexuality, and pleasure as reflected in certain Qur’anic descriptions.
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