Record Details

COVID-19 vaccines, sexual reproductive health and rights: Negotiating sensitive terrain in Zimbabwe

Inkanyiso

 
 
Field Value
 
Title COVID-19 vaccines, sexual reproductive health and rights: Negotiating sensitive terrain in Zimbabwe
 
Creator Manyonganise, Molly
 
Subject Religion; Cultural Studies; Sociology COVID-19; men; rights; sexual reproductive health; women; Zimbabwe
Description The COVID-19 period caused a lot of suffering globally, as millions lost their lives while others went through the pain of being infected. The introduction of vaccines to minimise chances of infection and death was a welcome development. However, it was also fraught with its own challenges in the area of sexual health and rights of both women and men. Scholarship on gender and religion noted the way women failed to access contraception in a period in which sexual activity had increased as most couples were together for long periods of time. The introduction of vaccines was accompanied by a lot of misinformation. Lack of clarity on the effect of the vaccines on pregnant and lactating mothers caused a lot of anxiety. This was exacerbated by the information that was being circulated on social media platforms that the vaccines would interfere with individuals’ reproductive capacity. Yet African religio-cultural beliefs and practices place so much importance on both women and men’s ability to have children. In fact, one’s respectability in African indigenous societies is greatly linked to their ability to have children. This article seeks to examine the fears of some Zimbabweans to accept COVID-19 vaccines, establishing how these fears were tied to issues of sexual reproductive health and rights. The article focuses on showing how the terrain of sexual health and rights is a sensitive one which called for caution in a COVID-19 context in Zimbabwe. Data for the article were gathered through informal interviews and social media platforms.Contribution: The article makes a significant contribution to the way COVID-19 interfaced with issues to do with SRHR in Zimbabwe.
 
Publisher AOSIS Publishing
 
Contributor
Date 2024-02-28
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Interview
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ink.v16i1.104
 
Source Inkanyiso; Vol 16, No 1 (2024); 7 pages 2077-8317 2077-2815
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://inkanyisojournal.org/index.php/ink/article/view/104/151 https://inkanyisojournal.org/index.php/ink/article/view/104/152 https://inkanyisojournal.org/index.php/ink/article/view/104/153 https://inkanyisojournal.org/index.php/ink/article/view/104/154
 
Coverage Africa, Zimbabwe Contemporary Zimbabwe 18 years and above, Zimbabwean
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Molly Manyonganise https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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