Women’s and Gender Studies and the History
Department
Faculty of Arts
Invite you to a seminar by:
Carla Tsampiras,
History Department, Rhodes University
Sex in a Time of Exile: An Examination of Sexual
Health, AIDS, Gender and the ANC, 1980 – 1990
Respondent: Sakhumzi Mfecane,
Anthropology/Sociology Department
DATE:
TIME:
VENUE:
15 May 2013
1.00 – 2.30 pm
Centre for Humanities Research Seminar Room
By the start of the 1980s, the African National Congress (ANC) had been banned for 20 years
and members of the organisation were either working ‘underground’ or in exile communities,
offices, or missions around the globe. By the mid-1980s AIDS was becoming an increasing
concern for both the ANC and the countries that hosted its major settlements. Drawing on
AIDS education material and other archival sources relating to the ANC Department of Health,
this paper asks questions about sex in exile communities. Focussing initially on AIDS education
material and then on two interconnected topics namely pregnancies and STIs (with a particular
focus on AIDS) it explores these aspects of the sexual landscape of exile communities for
insights into sexual practices and sexual health needs. It also asks if there are any gendered
assumptions, by individual ANC members or organisational structures, evident in the discussions
about, understandings of, or responses to, these topics.
RSVP: wgs@uwc.ac.za and llalkhen@uwc.ac.za