The meaning, lived experiences and intentions for safer sex communication among young Batswana women in dyadic relationships

Abstract

Increased heterosexual transmission of HIV among young women and their difficulties with safer sex com- munication calls for women-focused research. This qualitative phenomenological study explored the mean- ing and lived experiences of women, as part of larger pre-dissertation pilot on health protective sexual com- munication among young women in Gaborone, Bots- wana. This was a study conducted in two Gaborone City Council MCH clinics. Twenty women partici- pated in individual in-depth interviews conducted in Setswana, tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, trans- lated into English for line by line analysis to extract themes and subthemes. Six main themes and nine subthemes emerged from the data. The main themes were: the meaning of HPSC, responsibility for HPSC, HPSC content, facilitating factors, partner’s response. Batswana women communicate with their male sex-ual partners about safer sex but face some difficulties. Further quantitative research can further explore women’s experiences with safer sex communication.