Blesser relationships among orphaned adolescent girls in contexts of poverty and gender inequality in South African townships.

The term blesser has become part of South Africa's contemporary lexicon, replacing the older terminology of 'sugar daddy.' While much recent literature has focused on the blesser phenomenon, the voices of orphaned adolescent girls on their entanglement in blesser relationships have had insufficient attention. Using the theory of gender and power as an analytical lens, this qualitative study analyses the visual and textual data generated by orphaned adolescent girls on their relationships with blessers.

'Parents are gudlists!' Experiences of puberty and parent-child sexual communication in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

This paper explores young people's experiences of puberty and their perspectives on parent-child sexual communication in rural northern KwaZulu-Natal. In-depth individual interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory visual research methodology were employed with 18 and 19-year-old young women ( = 30) and young men ( = 16) attending three primary health care facilities and a local high school in Jozini municipality. The findings suggest a complex interplay between unequal gender and socio-cultural norms that results in divergent puberty experiences and ambiguous and inconsistent patterns of parent-child sexual communication.

Why Men Rape: Perspectives From Incarcerated Rapists in a KwaZulu-Natal Prison, South Africa.

Sexual offending is a global problem but is particularly prevalent on the African continent and in South Africa. Childhood experiences related to abuse, alcohol use, and criminal activities in the household and community has been associated with an increased risk for violence perpetration in adulthood. Less is known about sexual violence perpetration, especially in the South African context.

"Theyabduct usand rapeus": Adolescents' participatory visual reflections of their vulnerability to sexual violence in South African townships.

The abduction and sexual violation of adolescents, especially in township contexts, has increasingly made headlines in South Africa. These incidents are evocative of jackrolling, a phenomenon that plagued townships during the apartheid upheavals in the late 1980s. The abduction of adolescents on their school journeys has been reported in several South African townships.

Using the Emanuel Framework to Explore the Ethical Issues Raised in a Participatory Visual Research Project in Rural South Africa.

Participatory visual research can offer critical insight into the experiences of those most affected by health issues. As these methods are increasingly used to research sensitive topics, there is a need for a clear ethical framework to guide best practice on the part of researchers and research ethics committees. Here we reflect on a project where we used digital storytelling as a participatory visual methodology to explore HIV treatment adherence in rural South Africa, with a focus on the ethical issues we encountered during the lifetime of the project.

Community engagement with HIV drug adherence in rural South Africa: a transdisciplinary approach.

Digital storytelling (DST) is an emerging participatory visual method which combines storytelling traditions with computer and video production technology. In this project, at the heart of the HIV epidemic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, we used DST to create a culturally grounded community engagement intervention. Our aim was to use narratives of people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) to stimulate dialogue among the wider community and to encourage reflection on the contextual factors that influence ART adherence in this setting.

What Does It Mean to Be a Young African Woman on a University Campus in Times of Sexual Violence? A New Moment, a New Conversation.

Sexual violence in the higher education is an epidemic of global proportions. Scholars conclude that the individual and collective silence that surrounds such violence enables its perpetration and that violence will only be eradicated when we break this silence. In this paper, we used two participatory visual methods (PVM), collage and storytelling, to explore what sexual violence at university looks like and what it means to woman students.

The Hidden Curricula of Medical Education: A Scoping Review.

Purpose: To analyze the plural definitions and applications of the term "hidden curriculum" within the medical education literature and to propose a conceptual framework for conducting future research on the topic.

Method: The authors conducted a literature search of nine online databases, seeking articles published on the hidden, informal, or implicit curriculum in medical education prior to March 2017. Two reviewers independently screened articles with set inclusion criteria and performed kappa coefficient tests to evaluate interreviewer reliability.

Understanding Specific Contexts of Antiretroviral Therapy Adherence in Rural South Africa: A Thematic Analysis of Digital Stories from a Community with High HIV Prevalence.

Near-perfect adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is required to achieve the best possible prevention and treatment outcomes. Yet, there have been particular concerns about the challenges of adherence among patients living in resource-limited settings in sub-Saharan Africa. The primary objective of this study was to explore adherence in a low-resourced, rural community of high HIV prevalence in South Africa and to identify specific individual and structural factors that can either challenge or support adherence in this context.

Photo-voice as a tool for analysis and activism in response to HIV and AIDS stigmatisation in a rural KwaZulu-Natal school.

Objective: This paper focuses on the use of participatory approaches to research and intervention and explores the uses of photo-voice as a methodology and a means of promoting childhood and youth activism in the context of HIV and AIDS.

Method: Photo-voice, a visual participatory methodology, was used with 21 Grade 8 and 9 learners in one of three schools participating in a larger project, to identify, understand and interpret incidents related to stigma and discrimination against people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS, as well as the strategies proposed by the learners to possibly reduce stigma.

Results: Three themes emerged: awareness of HIV and AIDS, awareness of HIV-related stigma and its impacts, and acceptance of personal agency and taking action.