Mass male circumcision - what will it mean for Africa's women?
Women's voices have gone largely unheard in the debate on male circumcision as an HIV prevention method, but informal discussions with women reveal a range of concerns, preferences and views that researchers and governments would do well to consider before drawing up plans for rolling out a national circumcision programme.
In an unscientific poll, IRIN/PlusNews found a high degree of ambivalence among wives, girlfriends and mothers about the implications of a mass male circumcision campaign.
"It's going to be an advantage for women who are married to men who are cheating," said Carol Masombuka, 19, a Sesotho woman from Mpumalanga Province, in South Africa, zeroing in on the fact that even the partial protection circumcision provides could make a difference to women who are powerless to insist on condom use.
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