What is happening to the babies in Africa? The following issues are currently attributed to societal problems in Africa today.
1. Baby rape epidemic. Baby rapes in South Africa are fueled by the myth that having sex with a virgin (even a child or a baby) cures Aids. Traditional healers (witchdoctors) are blamed for spreading this idea.
In South Africa, the rape of infants and toddlers occurs at a low but consistent level. The acute public recognition of the rape of infants and toddlers in South Africa was occasioned by the case of a particularly shocking, widely reported rape in late 2001, followed in rapid succession by the rape of several other infants. Attempts to explain the rape of infants and toddlers include the socialization influences on men of the country’s violent apartheid past, as well as virgin cleansing myths which have arisen in the context of the country’s rampant
HIV/AIDS epidemic. Added to this is an uneven child rights environment and a poorly functioning police and justice system. Even under the concerted influence of environmental pressures, the rape of an infant or a toddler is an extremely brutal act which requires both psychological and social explanation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
2. HIV positive babies. There are 3 main ways that babies contract HIV:
a. while the baby develops in the mother’s uterus (intrauterine)
b. at the time of birth
c. during breastfeeding. Babies born with HIV infection will most likely appear healthy. But sometimes, within 2 to 3 months after birth, an infected baby may begin to appear sick, with poor weight gain, repeated fungal mouth infections (thrush), enlarged lymph nodes, enlarged liver or spleen, neurological problems, and multiple bacterial infections, including pneumonia.
3. Teenage pregnancy. Each year it is estimated that about 72,000 South African girls between the ages of 13 and 19 years stop attending school as a result of pregnancy. South Africa is one of only a few countries in sub- Saharan Africa that allows pregnant girls to return to school after they give birth.
Teenage pregnancy and HIV infection are linked, in that both indicate that unprotected sex took place.
0 Comments