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Dorothy Roberts
Professor, Northwestern University, Illinois
Discipline: Law
Lecturing/Research: Feminist Perspectives on Masculinity and Sexuality; Impact of Constructions of Sexuality on HIV/AIDS Law and Policy
Host: University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Toboga
September 2002 – June 2003
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Dorothy Roberts readily admits that she is not a typical law professor. Unlike most of her colleagues at the University of Chicago School of Law, her focus is interdisciplinary. She looks at how social issues— particularly race, gender and reproductive health—interact with the law. That is what drew her to the Centre for Gender and Development Studies (CGDS) at the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad.
“I was really intrigued by a center totally devoted to gender,” she says. “The Caribbean has the second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the world, topped only by southern Africa. I felt I could help the people there understand some of the gender issues associated with the disease and help find ways to prevent it.”
During her nine months as a Fulbright Scholar, Roberts worked with CGDS head Rhoda Reddock to launch a research project. Now well under way, the investigation is looking at the impact of gender norms, expectations and behaviors on sexuality in Trinidad and Tobago and at the implications for HIV/AIDS risk and prevention.
The two researchers began setting up the project by meeting with those in Trinidad and Tobago who are involved in limiting the spread of AIDS. They formulated a plan for the research and its implementation. Roberts also applied for funding and received two small grants.
In addition, Roberts set up focus groups of young adults, ages 18 to 24, to discuss attitudes on sex and HIV/AIDS. “If you don’t understand people’s behavior, you can’t solve a problem,” she says. “There are also cultural differences that often affect the spread of the disease.” She organized a symposium on gender, sexuality and HIV/AIDS.
After a few months, Roberts decided to do some additional research. She wrote a paper on her findings entitled “Family Planning Policy and Developmental Discourse in Trinidad and Tobago.” The richly diverse population prompted her study. “Along with people whose ancestors came from around the world, there are equal numbers of people of Indian and African descent,” she says. “That adds a wonderful dimension to any study.”
Roberts and Reddock keep in touch through e-mail, and Roberts plans to return to Trinidad. When she does, she will conduct in-depth interviews with a cross section of people to help her formulate a list of recommendations for slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS.
In addition to conducting research, Roberts cared for her two children who accompanied her: Yaosca, her sixteen-year-old daughter, and Dessalines, her two-year-old son. Her husband and two elder children stayed behind but visited several times. “We all loved it there,” Roberts says. “The culture, the food, the music, everything. We felt right at home.
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