Rethinking African and Catholic sex taboos in the context of HIV and AIDS

Abstract

This article examines the significance of Catholic sex ethics in sub-Saharan Africa, where 22 million people are infected by HIV, with 1.9 million new infections in 2007 and 1.5 million HIV and AIDS related deaths in the same year alone (UNAIDS/WHO 2008 Report, July 2008). The article explores ways of liberating sexuality and saving lives by re-examining Catholic sex taboos in relation to circumcision in some African communities in HIV and AIDS contexts. It challenges the Church, which has been blamed for imposing on Africans an anti-sexuality faith, to urgently revise its sex ethics in order to exonerate itself from crimes committed against humanity in the 21st century. The article critically examines the gender dynamics of coerced abstinence in infibulating cultures and the unwavering Catholic pastoral teachings against condoms, despite the continual scourge of HIV and AIDS.