MRC PhD student

Level of study: PhD

Background: Universiteit Maastricht

Brief description of the project:
Recently, there has been a worldwide call from leading scientists, the World Health Organisation and UNAIDS to roll out circumcision as a standard HIV prevention strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the Eastern Cape province male circumcision is commonly practiced within the context of a rite of passage to adulthood as part of a cultural and traditional belief system. Before circumcision, boys gradually embark on initiation processes that vary from families, communities, ethnic groups and nations. In collaboration with the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, this project explores the health related behaviour and personal experiences of newly circumcised men who are at the critical transitional period and the crossroads of moving from boyhood to manhood.

Specific aims of the project:

• To investigate socio-cultural context of traditional male initiation and circumcision in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa.
• To investigate determinants of sexual behaviours amongst newly circumcised men in the rural areas of Eastern Cape province.
• To explore the modern challenges facing man such as meanings and understanding of responsible manhood amongst newly circumcised men in the rural areas of Eastern Cape Province.
• To design health interventions that positively taps into the age old indigenous cultural practices and thus improve the health and wellbeing of men in South Africa.