Poverty fuels new HIV infections among women

After dropping out of school at Grade 6, 25-year-old Bongani Fainos (not her real name) once believed her only realistic option was to find work as a housemaid to support her children. Instead, life took a far harsher path. Today, she is a sex worker in the border town of Beitbridge, her story reflecting the brutal intersection of poverty, gender inequality and HIV.

During a recent visit to the town, Fainos stood out among other women — a toddler strapped to her back and a visibly pregnant belly telling a story of repeated hardship.

"I had my first child at 15 and the second at 18, while staying with the man I had eloped to far away from my rural home," she said.

Her challenges escalated when the man took a second wife.

"He married another woman and that was the beginning of my problems," Fainos recalled. "I could not cope with the marriage setup. When the second wife was brought home, things became unbearable, so I left with my children."

With no stable income and no means to support her children, Fainos took advice she says she now regrets. A friend encouraged her to move to Beitbridge and enter sex work — a common survival strategy in the border town.

While working there, she later moved in with another man who impregnated her, and she gave birth to her third child. However, the relationship soon collapsed.

"Several months after giving birth, things turned sour again and I left," she said.

Her situation worsened after a failure of her chosen contraceptive method. While still breastfeeding her third child, she discovered she was pregnant once more. Unable to work until she gives birth, she says she is now living in extreme poverty.

Her experience mirrors the wider economic reality in Zimbabwe, where prolonged economic pressure has left many with few survival options, deepening inequality between rich and poor.

In an even more painful revelation, Fainos disclosed that she is HIV positive — a diagnosis she received at a young age. Despite repeated failed relationships, she still believes that a man could be her route out of poverty. During a recent tour of Matabeleland South organised by the National Aids Council (NAC) ahead of World Aids Day commemorations, she revealed that she was considering reuniting with the man who last impregnated her, despite the fact that he has never provided any support.

NAC provincial manager for Matabeleland South, Mgcini Sibanda, said Fainos' story reflects the vulnerability of many women in the province.

"Women here are prone to HIV infection largely because of economic dependence on men," Sibanda said. "In most cases, they are involved in relationships with older men — what we call intergenerational sex. These men have economic power and social influence, making it difficult for adolescent girls and young women to negotiate for safer sex."

Speaking during World Aids Day commemorations held at Mzingwane High School in Umzingwane district, NAC chief executive officer Bernard Madzima also raised concern over the growing burden of HIV among adolescent girls and young women.

Matabeleland South currently has the highest HIV prevalence rate in Zimbabwe. Recent data shows the province's prevalence has reached 15%, significantly above the national average of 9%.

Female HIV incidence rates have now overtaken those of males in all seven districts of the province. Bulilima records the highest incidence at 0,38%, while Mangwe, with a prevalence rate of 16,8%, and Umzingwane also remain well above the national average.

For women like Fainos, these statistics represent lived realities — shaped by poverty, limited education and deeply entrenched economic dependence.