• Violence precipitated by HIV infection

Violence against women precipitated by HIV infection

This fact sheet analyses the issue of violence against women and its relationship with AIDS. It argues that besides being a major human rights and public health problem worldwide, violence against women increases female vulnerability to HIV.

Key findings include:

• fear of violence prevents women from accessing HIV/AIDS information, being tested, disclosing their HIV status, accessing services for the prevention of HIV transmission to infants, and receiving treatment and counselling, even when they know they have been infected. This is particularly true where HIV-related stigma remains high
• the high incidence of non-consensual sex, women’s inability to negotiate safer sex, and in many cases fear of abandonment or eviction from homes and communities, present extreme challenges - particularly for women who lack economic means
• between 20%-48% of adolescent girls aged 10-25 report their first sexual encounter was forced
• it is not just young women coerced into sex outside of marriage who are at risk. A young married woman engaging in monogamous heterosexual sex with her husband can also be at risk. In these circumstances traditional messages of prevention are of little relevance as condoms are less likely to be used inside marriage
• women face additional obstacles due to the pervasiveness of discriminatory legal frameworks which fail to guarantee equal rights or equal protection before the law

The document concludes that a comprehensive response to tackle violence against women and HIV/AIDS must include:

• mobilising leadership at global, national, and community levels to generate action to ensure that normative change occurs to make violence against women unacceptable
• expanding the evidence base highlighting the prevalence of violence against women, including the economic, social and health costs, and its links to HIV and AIDS
• building the knowledge base on the relationship between violence against women and HIV and AIDS and disseminating this information to researchers and practitioners in both fields
• promoting national and community level action that improves the education and legal standing of women and builds on successful efforts and encourages innovation and partnership among groups working on both issues

[adapted from author]

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