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Despite the dominance of AIDS messaging in public life, schools maintain silence about personal risk in relation to AIDS. The article explains reluctance to test, talk about, and disclose HIV status by linking silence to gender inequalities, arguing that silence restricts negotiation of safe sex, self-exploration, vulnerability expression, and trust—while increasing intolerance and prejudice. Interventions that break this silence can reduce transmission and support gender equality.",{"@graph":69,"@context":121},[70,84,104],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/silence-sexuality-and-hivaids-in-south-african-schools-article/593411/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":98,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":99,"interactionStatistic":100},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/silence-sexuality-and-hivaids-in-south-african-schools-article/593411.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Elsa","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":101,"interactionType":102,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":103},"ViewAction",{"@type":105,"mainEntity":106},"FAQPage",[107,113,117],{"name":108,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":110},"Why are students and teachers in South African schools reluctant to discuss HIV status?","Question",{"text":111,"@type":112},"The article argues that silence is shaped by broader, society-wide gender inequalities and by school cultures that discourage personal reflection on gender and sexuality.","Answer",{"name":114,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":115},"How does silence affect HIV prevention and safe sex practices?",{"text":116,"@type":112},"Silence prevents negotiation of safe sex, limits exploration of the self and expression of vulnerability, and reduces trust and respect, undermining prevention efforts.",{"name":118,"@type":109,"acceptedAnswer":119},"What impact can interventions that break the silence have?",{"text":120,"@type":112},"Interventions aimed at breaking silence are described as contributing to lower likelihood of HIV transmission and promoting gender equality, and they can help limit HIV spread while reducing gender violence.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":123,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":125,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":127,"site_id":62},593411,1792080233,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":130},{"doc_id":127,"user_id":131,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":132,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":133,"file_id":134,"file_url":135,"file_type":136,"file_size":137,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":138,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},137455077381,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d","Silence, Sexuality and HIV/AIDS in South African Schools  \nRobert Morrell  \nUniversity of Natal  \nAbstract  \nIn South Africa where there is a very high HIV infection rate among teenagers and young adults, it is surprising to find that students and teachers are very unwilling to talk about the possibility of being or becoming HIV positive. While AIDS messages dominate public discourse, there is a silence in schools about the personal in relation to AIDS. This article seeks to explain the reluctance of learners to test, talk about and disclose their HIV status, by examining silence within a broader context. It draws on gender theories to show the connections between the silence of AIDS and broader, society-wide gender inequalities. A focus on ‘silence’ adds a neglected gendered phenomenon to the understanding of the AIDS pandemic. Silence is a feature of gender relations that prevents the negotiation of safe sex, the exploration of the self and the expression of vulnerability and hence the building of trust and respect. Conversely, silence contributes to intolerance and fuels prejudice. When interventions consciously attempt to break the silence, they make a major contribution to reducing the likelihood of HIV transmission and to promoting gender equality.  \nIntroduction  \nFor nearly ten years, the slogan ‘Break the Silence’ has been a feature of AIDS prevention work in South Africa. It was the slogan adopted at the International AIDS conference in Durban in July 2000 and it continues to be a very audible slogan used, for example, by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) . The slogan is a response to the reluctance of individuals who are HIV positive either to test or to disclose their status. It tries to encourage testing and disclosure by producing a positive climate. TAC members often wear‘I am HIV positive’ T-shirts. ‘Breaking the Silence’ is a campaign that seeks to promote acceptance for people living with AIDS and, as a direct consequence, seeks to encourage people to be medically tested for HIV. At the moment, there is very little voluntary testing and most of the information about levels of infection is obtained from ante-natal clinics or in company-wide anonymous tests.  \nThe Australian Educational Researcher, Volume 30, Number 1, April 2003 •41  \nThe silence around HIV status is not the only silence that bedevils efforts to limit HIV transmission. In many schools there is a culture of silence. Certain subjects are taboo for discussion and teachers and learners are guarded, unable or unwilling to reflect personally on issues of gender and sexuality. Such school cultures seriously undermine AIDS prevention initiatives and place learners and teachers at risk of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.  \nIn this article, I examine some of the gendered causes and consequences of silence, particularly in school settings. I argue that work which, firstly, acknowledges the importance of silence in blocking prevention messages and, secondly, seeks to break this silence has the potential to impact dramatically on life choices, gender equality and HIV prevention.  \nThe article is organised into a number of sections. I begin by describing the AIDS situation in South African schools. I then define and examine two types of silence concerning HIV/AIDS disclosure and sex talk. The next section discusses reasons for these silences and suggests some common gendered causes. In the penultimate section I draw on research data taken from a schools-based research project in Durban. I examine the responses of grade 10 and 11 learners (aged 15–20 years) to questions about their lives and relationships. In the final section I offer examples of how a gendered language of introspection is developed. I suggest that interventions which are sensitive to gendered silence are likely to limit the spread of HIV and reduce gender violence successfully.  \nAIDS and schools  \nSouth Africa has a demographic profile characteristic of developing countries – ","cbCailZEfrinLtZ3","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailZEfrinLtZ3","pdf",89663,22,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# AIDS and schools\n## Silence around HIV status\n## Silence, gender, and prevention","[{\"question\":\"Why are students and teachers in South African schools reluctant to discuss HIV status?\",\"answer\":\"The article argues that silence is shaped by broader, society-wide gender inequalities and by school cultures that discourage personal reflection on gender and sexuality.\"},{\"question\":\"How does silence affect HIV prevention and safe sex practices?\",\"answer\":\"Silence prevents negotiation of safe sex, limits exploration of the self and expression of vulnerability, and reduces trust and respect, undermining prevention efforts.\"},{\"question\":\"What impact can interventions that break the silence have?\",\"answer\":\"Interventions aimed at breaking silence are described as contributing to lower likelihood of HIV transmission and promoting gender equality, and they can help limit HIV spread while reducing gender violence.\"}]","Silence, Sexuality and HIV/AIDS in South African Schools - Article | PDF",1792077209,55]