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A wife, husband, and children can be hurt when a gossip — with no evidence — spreads rumors that the wife or husband have lovers.
This situation threatens many HIV-positive married men and women in Africa. HIV prevention programs say most infected adults — including wives and husbands with HIV-negative partners — got HIV from lovers, even if there is no evidence they had lovers, and even if they deny it. Such HIV prevention messages are equivalent to rumors — averring without evidence that people had secret lovers and lied about it.
Researchers have supported such unfounded “rumors.” For example, a UNAIDS-funded study in Zimbabwe followed adults to see who got HIV and what were their risks. After finding and reporting that “[t]hirteen of 67 individuals seroconverting in this study reported no sexual partners in the inter-survey period..” the authors opined: …misreporting of sexual behaviour may explain some of these infections….”[1]
Wife with HIV, husband without
Many women are victimized by such unsupported suspicions. National surveys in 24 African countries during 2010-14 report the percentages of couples with HIV in one or both partners. In 14 of 24 countries, if a married woman was HIV-positive, more than 50% of husbands were HIV-negative (Table 1). This is not explained by women getting HIV before marriage – even among married women aged 30-39 years, an HIV-positive wife was more likely to have an HIV-negative than an HIV-positive husband in 12 of 24 countries (Table 1).
Table 1: Among married women who are HIV-positive, what % of husbands are HIV-negative?
Sources: Demographic and Health Surveys and AIDS Information Surveys for each country available at: http://www.dhsprogram.com/Where-We-Work/Country-List.cfm (from this link, click on the country and then the survey, and then go to the chapter that reports HIV prevalence).
Seeing such data and recognizing “women’s low self-reported levels of extramarital sex, a World Bank economist opines: “…I conclude that the sizable fraction of discordant female couples is extremely difficult to explain without extramarital sex among married women.”[2]
Most countries in Africa routinely test pregnant women for HIV. Hence, the wife is often the first partner to know her status. If the husband subsequently goes for a test, he is more likely to test HIV-negative than HIV-positive in most countries across Africa.
What is he to think? Should he believe his wife? Or should he believe healthcare professionals (behaving like gossips) who propose his wife lied? It is relevant, as well, that healthcare professionals have a conflict of interest – the alternative to blaming wives for adultery is to acknowledge their HIV may have come from unsafe healthcare.
Husband with HIV, wife without
Similarly, blaming all HIV on sex encourages wives to blame HIV-positive husbands for having lovers and lying about it. In 15 of 24 countries, when the husband is HIV-positive, at least 50% of wives are HIV-negative (see Table 2).
Table 2: Among married HIV-positive men, the % of wives HIV-negative
Sources: Demographic and Health Surveys and AIDS Information Surveys for each country available at: http://www.dhsprogram.com/Where-We-Work/Country-List.cfm (from this link, click on the country and then the survey, and then go to the chapter that reports HIV prevalence).
References
1. Lopman, Garnett, Mason, Gregson. Individual level injection history: A lack of association with HIV incidence in rural Zimbabwe. PLoS 2008: Med 2(2): e37. Available at: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/fetchObject.action?uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020037&representation=PDF
2. de Walque D. Sero-discordant couples in five African countries: implications for HIV prevention strategies. Pop Dev Review 2007; 33: 501-523. Abstract available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2007.00182.x (accessed 28 October 2018).
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