Children and HIV – Media Watch
“Virgin cure” myth alive & well
The alarming misconception that sexual intercourse with a virgin can cure HIV infection still endures in South African society today, with tragic consequences.
Recent coverage of the alleged rape of a two-year-old girl by her HIV-positive father in The Star is a reminder of the serious dangers of persisting misinformation about the virus.
Of the many HIV-related myths that are still in circulation, the virgin myth – which claims that HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases can be cured by having sex with a virgin – is perhaps the most medieval (indeed, the belief is thought to have originated from 16th century Europe).
Media ignores the intergenerational sex aspect of sangoma story
Coverage of the marriage of a young girl to a 57-year-old sangoma has failed to consider the story in the context of intergenerational sex, attendant unequal gender power relations and HIV risk.
Last week the marriage of a 13-year-old girl to a man 44-years her senior raised questions around the protection of women and girls in what can only be described as a society that is hostile towards the fairer sex.
These questions have peaked in a crescendo following the brutal rape and murder of Anene Booysen only days after reports of the adolescent’s marriage to the elderly sangoma appeared in the newspapers.
Dehumanising headline from the Daily Sun
Last week (31 May 2012) yet another stigmatising HIV-related headline was splashed across the frontpage of the Daily Sun: “Teacher bullies AIDS Girl!”
The headline not only illustrates the Daily Sun’s ignorance around the difference between HIV and AIDS–––having HIV does not mean you have AIDS–––but also stigmatises people living with HIV and dehumanises the young girl involved in the debacle.
ANALYSIS: Bona article doesn’t cut it
By framing neonatal circumcision purely as a matter of parents’ beliefs, Bona magazine fails to properly inform its readers of the HIV-prevention benefits that this procedure offers.
