The condom divide: disenfranchisement of Malawi women by church and state.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the impact of 2 mitigating social institutions, religious organizations, and the state, on Malawi women's vulnerability to HIV.


METHODS
In-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 40 central leaders from 5 faith-based organizations in Malawi were recorded and transcribed as part of an on-going larger study. Qualitative description was used to identify themes and categories.


METHODS
Primarily urban and periurban areas of south-central Malawi.


METHODS
A minimum of 6 leaders from each faith-based organization were interviewed; the mean age of the primarily male (68%) participants was 44 years (range 26-74).


RESULTS
Analysis of religious leaders' messages about HIV produced an overarching theme, the condom divide, which conceptualized the divergence between faith-based organizations and the state's prevention messages related to HIV prevention strategies.


CONCLUSIONS
Faith-based organizations have "demonized" state messages about condoms as promoting sin. The faith-based organizations' insistence on abstinence and faithfulness leaves women with few options to protect themselves. As socially conscious citizens of the world, nurses can increase the responsiveness to the disparate levels of suffering and death in countries like Malawi.
Rankin
Sally H
SH
University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. sally.rankin@nursing.ucsf.edu
Lindgren
Teri
T
Kools
Susan M
SM
Schell
Ellen
E
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D002977:Clergy / Q000523:psychology*; D017280:Condoms; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008295:Malawi / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011057:Politics; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011287:Prejudice; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012945:Social Values / Q000208:ethnology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health; D014933:Women's Rights / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*