Breeding men, not tigers
Living with AIDS # 403
02.09.2009 Khopotso Bodibe

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	www.genderjustice.org.za

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KHOPOTSO: This USAID-funded campaign, “Brothers for Life”, is a good news initiative that promotes the positive values that men should stand for. Part of it is a media awareness programme whose first advert started appearing this week. The advert publicises a manifesto that introduces the arrival of a “new man” in South Africa.

RADIO AD: There is a new man in South Africa… A man who takes responsibility for his actions… A man who chooses a single partner over multiple chances with HIV… A man whose self-worth is not determined by the number of women he can have… A man who makes no excuses for unprotected sex, even after drinking… A man who supports his partner and protects his children… A man who respects his woman and never lifts a hand to her… A man who knows that the choices we make today will determine whether we see tomorrow… I am that man and you are my brother… Yenza kahle… Do the right thing and be a brother for life.

KHOPOTSO: But the man envisioned here is not entirely new. The problem is that this type of man is silent, hence he is not known to exist, says Mandla Ndlovu, Communications Programme Manager for Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa, an implementing partner in the campaign.   

MANDLA NDLOVU: You know I’m one of those people who would listen to radio and hear a story about rapists and feel bad that it’s being generalized to all the men, but do nothing about it. So, what is new about this man? A lot of people would say: “But this man is not new. This man is me.’’ What is new is that this man speaks about it and is out there and he’s proud to stand up for these values.

KHOPOTSO: Instead of preaching to men, Ndlovu says the campaign seeks to create an environment where men can learn from one another about how to become better people, partners and parents.  

MANDLA NDLOVU: There are a lot of men out there who can teach, there’s a lot of men who are good parents, there’s a lot of men who actually practice great behavior and we would like that silent majority of men to come out and educate the rest of the men about how to be a good man in the context of South Africa in these dangerous times… I think we all know good men. But, good news does not sell. What you hear more about South African men are the men that rape, abuse their women, abuse children. This campaign aims to lift out the voices of these other men, who actually are the big majority of South African men.     

KHOPOTSO: Sonke Gender Justice Network, which educates boys and men about their responsibility in social and health issues, is a partner in the project. Co-director, Bafana Kumalo, explained that the aim is to focus on a group of society that has largely been ignored in health intervention programmes.     

BAFANA KUMALO: It’s an intervention that is focusing primarily on men on issues of HIV/AIDS and broadly health and wellness for men. It’s targeted, particularly, at ages of men from 30 upwards because having looked at most of the interventions that we have in the country currently that speak to the issues of HIV/AIDS, for instance, target younger generations. We felt there is a need, really, to have a programme that speaks specifically to mature men, particularly in the light of Soul City’s research that confirms issues of concurrent multiple partners as one of the drivers of the pandemic in the country.

KHOPOTSO: The AIDS Law Project said the target group is crucial, especially after the Human Sciences Research Council’s recent HIV survey showed that men in the 25 – 49 year age group have an infection rate of about 24%, which is more than double the country average of 11%. Mark Heywood is director of the AIDS Law Project.   

MARK HEYWOOD: Once we get to the 30s evidence shows that we have a persistently high level of HIV infection remaining amongst those men. We want to try to make those men aware of HIV, but also aware of their sexual health. Another fact is that we have a problem of sugar daddies – older men having sexual relationships with younger women. Talking to this group of men is a way of trying to influence those types of behaviors.

KHOPOTSO: Men are not tigers - they are also human and they need help for the benefit of their own well-being and that of their loved ones, adds Sonke Gender Justice’s Bafana Kumalo.   

BAFANA KUMALO: If we continue to say to men, ‘don’t take care of your health’, we are confirming the stereotypes that ‘men are strong, men don’t have to worry about their health because men are supposed to be tigers and able to deal with whatever eventuality’. We see this in HIV/AIDS infection rates in this country. Most men do not go for testing. But even if they do, they don’t access treatment and we are saying if we do want to make huge interventions that will turn these things around we do need a programme that will speak to men.

KHOPOTSO: More than 30 non-profit organisations are helping to implement this campaign. It is also supported by the Department of Health and the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). It will be implemented over a minimum period of three years.