GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE PUTS DAMPER ON HAITI’S HIV RESPONSE Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2010 Features): A recent UNAIDS report points to evidence of higher HIV risks among people with a history of gender-based violence, and to higher rates of gender-based violence among those who are HIV positive. HIV prevalence rates are very high among women in Haiti and a driving factor is believed to be gender-based violence. ...More»
ABUSE OF YOUNG WOMEN FUELS THE HIV EPIDEMIC IN JAMAICA Kingston, Jamaica (2010 Features): In Jamaica, the widespread incidence of violence against women, especially rape, is a matter of grave concern. Research shows a significant percentage of sex workers were violated and sexually abused as children and this has influenced their behaviour as adults. In fact, child abuse distorts natural sexual development, which should have been allowed to proceed normally. ...More»
JAMAICAN WOMEN FACE GREATER RISK OF HIV Kingston, Jamaica (2010 Features):
Biologically, women are at higher risk of contracting HIV than their male
counterparts. In Jamaica, women's increased biological vulnerability is
compounded by their subordinate social status. ...More»
UNEQUALLY YOKED: WOMEN HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO HIV IN
PAKISTAN Islamabad, Pakistan (2010 Features):
Thousands of women across Pakistan are at high risk of contracting sexually
transmitted diseases, including HIV, because of lack of knowledge, awareness and
a low social status that denies them their basic human rights. Because of the
social stigma attached to the disease, HIV positive men do not tell their wives
about their positive status. This power dynamic is the most basic form of
violence against women. ...More»
WHEN THE FEAR OF VIOLENCE FUELS AIDS Kampala, Uganda (2010 Features): Intimate partner violence related to HIV infection is growing in
Uganda. Studies conducted in Uganda’s eastern district of Pallisa revealed
that violence against women living with HIV and AIDS is increasing. 100 out of
465 HIV-positive women questioned during a survey had experienced some form of
violence after revealing their status to their husbands. Some of the reported
violence included battering and causing grievous body injuries. ...More»
TILL DEATH DO US PART: MARRIAGE OF YOUNG GIRLS DOOMS
ZAMBIA’S HIV RESPONSE Lusaka, Zambia (2010
Features): With high
poverty levels, women can be easily co-erced into having unprotected sex by men
who have money. Women are exposed to HIV as they have no choice but to submit to
demands for sex in exchange for money. This is particularly true among young
girls who are forced into early marriages by their parents. A UNICEF study
estimated 42 per cent of women between the ages of 15 to 24 years were married
before the age of 18 in Zambia. ...More»
