The stereotyping of men and women reinforces unequal sexual practice; a vision of women as weak, innocent, passive and submissive while men are strong, virile, possessive and authoritative is conducive to rape and violence.

Increasingly, education is considered as effective tool to control the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However the impact of HIV/AIDS on education, especially on the higher education sector, has not yet been well-documented.

Messages conveyed both explicitly and implicitly in the media play an important role in the shaping of public understanding of issues, as well as associated policy, programme and popular responses to these issues.