Women Defy Taboo to Fight HIV - Ethiopia

On June 18 2003, the National Coalition of Women Against HIV/AIDS was launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As part of their commitment to challenge sex-related taboos and traditions, each of the Coalition's organisers used the word 'tsota', which means 'sex' in the Amharic language. By fostering a spirit of openness like that characterising the public launch, the women hope to reverse a code of silence that, in the minds of some experts quoted in the article, has contributed to the high rate of HIV infection in this country. Women, as most statistics show, bear the brunt of the epidemic in Ethiopia.

Although refusing to keep silent about intercourse, the women vow to address it in a tactful manner. One founding member cites the case of a friend who divorced his wife after finding birth control pills in her bag as an example of the social barriers that must be overcome. The women's commitment to be open is, in the words of the author, "the verbal equivalent of a small earthquake" in Ethiopia. In a country with deeply entrenched patriarchal sensitivities, it is particularly significant that it is women who will be doing the talking.

The Coalition has 400,000 members in Tigray Regional State in northern Ethiopia, and more in Amhara, Oromiya and in the south. Many founding members are highly respected members of society, like senior government and other prominent figures. The women will work mostly at the grassroots level. Many families in rural areas do not have exposure to science or biology; one member notes that discussion of "the facts of life" will be difficult for these people. Even so, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose wife Azeb Mesfin is a founding member, predicted that enabling communities to speak out about sex would be an important means of addressing HIV/AIDS. Members point out that building awareness is not their goal - they say that HIV/AIDS awareness is widespread in Ethiopia. Rather, they seek to motivate real change in sexual behaviour patterns by cultivating openness and encouraging actions like HIV/AIDS testing.