Poverty and Devastation of Intimate Relations: Tanzanian Women’s Experience of Living With HIV/AIDS

In Tanzania, women of reproductive age constitute the largest group infected by HIV. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences related to health and sexuality of Tanzanian women who had known their positive serostatus for 1 year. In-depth interviews with 10 women were analyzed using a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach and showed frustration and despair at not having resources to maintain daily life. The women needed regular medical treatment for themselves and for their HIV-positive children. Their sexual desires had declined or vanished, and they had come to view sexuality as a source of transmittable disease. For some women, casual sex was an option to solve urgent financial needs. Happiness was something for their children, not for them. Access to social support from the women’s community would help prevent further HIV transmission and enhance survival so the children could grow up with at least one devoted parent.