HIV/AIDS

by Lucy Stackpool-Moore

(part two can be read here) 

Six million fewer people are living with HIV than was estimated in 2006. But beyond the numbers, the individual stories of survival, of despair, of compassion and of caring for others in times of immense hardship remain unchanged. Programme and policy responses need to listen to these stories and respond to these realities just as much as the statistics.

By Susana T. Fried, Neelanjana Mukhia and Shamillah Wilson

Around the world today, women and girls are at an alarming and growing risk of HIV infection as a result of their persisting social, cultural and economic subordination, as well as pervasive violence in their homes, communities, schools, workplaces, streets, markets, police stations and hospitals. Yet, national and global AIDS responses have yet to comprehensively address this deadly intersection.

A lot of the breakout sessions organised by the Women Deliver conference focused on AIDS/HIV treatment and prevention for women and girls, and how it should be treated as an integral part of the fight for reproductive rights for all women, everywhere.

One of the most important and recurrent issues underlined by speakers is that the spread of HIV/AIDS is directly linked to gender based violence, especially in unstable regions where rape is used as a weapon of war, or where women have to sell their bodies as a means to survive and provide for their families. [more...]