Gender Inequality and HIV Vulnerability in Plateau State, Nigeria

Abstract

This article is part of a larger study, which sought to investigate the nature of gender inequalities in vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in the Plateau State, Nigeria. Data were obtained mostly through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with community members including opinion leaders. It was found that gender inequalities are pervasive in all aspects of social life due to prevailing patriarchal power relations; the gender situation makes women more vulnerable. HIV vulnerabilities are also exacerbated by poverty-driven behavior and choices. The female population was found to be more vulnerable especially the youth who are pushed by material privations into transactional sex – sometimes without protection. There is also a general increase in alcohol consumption and some substance use by male and female youths, with the attendant diminished sense of responsibility, which predisposes them to engage in risky sex. The seeming reluctance of the Nigerian State to locate the HIV/AIDS epidemic and intervention in the broader structural context within which it occurs enables programme implementation to ignore the structural issues of gender, power and poverty which drive vulnerability.