Let's turn the ABC around : The communication needs of young women in Kampala to prevent HIV/AIDS

Abstract: This thesis is a part of a Bachelor’s degree within the field of Media and Communication at the School of Education and Communication at Jönköping University in Sweden. It is based on a Minor Field Study accomplished from the 30th of October to the 17th of December 2006 in Kampala, Uganda, East Africa. The background of the research is that women who are between 15 and 24 years old and live in sub-Saharan Africa are more than tree times as likely to be infected by HIV/AIDS as men in the same age and location. The purpose of the study is to discover indicators of what kind of health communication young women need to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS. The young women in the study are between 15 and 24 years old and live in areas affected by urban poverty in Kampala, Uganda. To be able to gain a deeper understanding for the young women’s situation, the empirical study has been based on eleven conversation interviews made one by one with eleven young women. The procedure of the study has been guided by developed grounded theory and during the analysis of the interviews phenomenology has been used. The result of the study shows that the ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful and Condom use) approach, which is used to fight HIV/AIDS in Uganda, is well known and carries an important message about prevention methods. At the same time it preaches moral in its hierarchical order which seems to judge women harder than men. The ABC approach was turned around by one of the young women in the study, which might create a more realistic message. It is however necessary to complement the approach with communication to young women about for example women’s rights and general sexual knowledge. This can be done through the use of verbal interpersonal communication, combined with easy access to HIV testing. The young women themselves can be effective peer educators and there is a need to let the interpersonal agenda be reflected in the political agenda, as well as in the developing media. To make young women able to act on their knowledge for protection, men and the community also need to be approached with gender sensitive messages.