Esther Miedema - Gender inequality and the HIV epidemic in Mozambique

There exists broad consensus, including in Mozambique, that gender inequality is a key driver of the HIV epidemic. It is also widely agreed that improving women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) will advance gender equality, which, in turn, is believed to increase economic productivity. Enhancing women’s SRHR is framed in terms of women’s ability ‘to decide freely over their own bodies,’ and school-based education as central to such ‘empowerment.’
While the assumptions underpinning the reasoning outlined above merit further attention in themselves, my main question here is: does school-based sexuality education in Mozambique indeed challenge existing gender relations and inequalities?