Many churches have responded with basic social outreach to those who are suffering. In many cases, however, their understanding has been limited. Some churches approach the pandemic in a moralistic and judgmental way, alienating themselves from those infected with HIV by labelling them as sexually immoral. There is often a denial that HIV/Aids can be found within the churches themselves.

The HIV/Aids epidemic needs a holistic approach which sees healing as a matter of body, mind and spirit. This approach must also take into account social injustices in people's life experiences.

Nigeria consultation

In March, the Alliance's department of partnership of women and men held a consultation on gender and HIV/Aids in Makurdi, Benue State. This was a follow-up to the gender awareness and leadership development workshop for English-speaking African churches in Zambia two years ago (see Update 11/2, June 2001).

The consultation, organized in cooperation with our six member churches in Nigeria, gave these churches an opportunity to examine the challenge of HIV/Aids in Nigeria and its different impacts on women and men, and to identify strategies that they can use in response.

We began with a session on understanding gender, culture and sexuality in the social, cultural and religious context of Nigeria. "Gender" is a social and cultural construct based on cultural and religious beliefs and traditions. It defines widely shared expectations and norms within a society about appropriate male and female behaviour, characteristics and roles. It differentiates women from men and delimits the ways in which they relate to each other.

Participants discussed the church's position on gender relations within the home, community and society. It was a good starting point for examining the negative impact of culture, traditions and religious beliefs and practices in perpetuating the low status of women.

Churches preach submissiveness for women and authority for men. They often link women with sin (the body) and men with the spiritual (the mind). In some cases women have been associated with earthly desires which distract them away from spiritual matters. This view of women contributes to gender injustice, which is a key factor in the spread of HIV/Aids. Women are at special risk because they have less control over when, where, whether and how sexual relations take place.

When women are disempowered, they become more vulnerable to HIV/Aids because they lack the ability to protect themselves. How can women practise safe sex if they do not have the power to say no to sex without a condom or no to sex with their infected partners? Susan found out that her husband tested positive for HIV but she is not in a position to protect herself. Susan cannot abstain from sex because her husband demands it. She cannot ask him to wear a condom because she is expected to be submissive and passive.

Economic, social and cultural barriers prevent women from making decisions about their lives since they are mostly dependent on their husbands or partners and families. Violence and abuse is often used as an acceptable means through which women are controlled and forced to submit to their partners' wishes and needs. In many communities in Nigeria, widows are disinherited by "property-grabbing". A widow is considered fortunate if she is passed on to the brother of her dead husband, because then she will at least have a home. Another cultural practice that makes women vulnerable is sex initiation, which includes genital mutilation. It is worrying that the churches play an important role in carrying out the act.

Participants also looked at stigmatization, and the many cultural and social factors which influence it. People living with HIV/Aids are often reluctant to share this information because of fear that they will be ostracized and made to feel ashamed. In the church they can be judged and damned to hell. The stigma affects not only the person living with HIV/Aids, but also their families. They risk losing their jobs, their friends and their dignity.

Participants called for action on eight fronts: including sexuality as a topic in Christian education; mainstreaming HIV/Aids care in church activities; designing specific programmes targeted at young people; taking specific action against negative cultural and gender practices that make women more vulnerable to HIV infection; designing Bible studies and theological curricula that teach about gender, combat the image of women as sex objects, and promote respect for womanhood; urging the Nigerian government to do more to prevent HIV infection and to support and care for those already infected; and taking a strong stand on human rights violations in Nigeria.

The church is in a position to fight stigmatization through its ministry of justice, compassion and care. The church can show concern for the dignity of people living with HIV/Aids and develop a ministry in solidarity with them.

Jesus taught his disciples what was important in discipleship: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me... Truly, I say to you, just as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers [and sisters], you did it to me." (Mt 25.35f, 40).

Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth

Read the communiqué from the consultation

Onika's story

After years of abuse, Onika left her husband's home and went to another village. Later she got sick and had to return home. She was taken to the hospital where she tested positive for Aids. The hospital sent her home to die and the doctor advised her children to isolate her. They were very reluctant to take her in. Eventually her son took her to his compound, where he put her in a little mud hut at a distance from his house. Food was dropped off at her front door. The younger children would set the food down by the door and quickly run away.

One day Onika heard the pastor preaching about hope and life. He said that all who believed would live in Christ and have an everlasting life. Onika wanted to hear more. She believed that her suffering was a consequence of her sin and she wondered if she too could be forgiven. As he passed by her front door, she shouted after the pastor and beseeched him to come pray with her. She was crying. All she wanted was someone to pray with her, but he refused. Onika died without her final prayers.

Gertude's death sentence

Gertude's husband was ailing for about a month before he went to see the doctor. She was concerned about his illness and wanted to know what the doctor said to him. He refused to tell her. She asked around and tried to get information from his family. She then learnt that he had Aids and would die. She knew about Aids and how it was transmitted.

Gertude was scared because she knew that if she had sex with him she would also get Aids and die. She was not in a position to refuse him sex because it was her duty as his wife.

She went to see the pastor's wife to ask her advice. The pastor's wife spoke to the pastor, but he said that Gertude couldn't disobey her husband. He reminded her about the teaching of the Bible "that the woman must submit to her husband".

Gertude felt that her life was in her husband's hands. What can she do?