| JAMAICAN WOMEN FACE GREATER RISK OF HIV |
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| 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» |
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| UNEQUALLY YOKED: WOMEN HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO HIV IN PAKISTAN |
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| 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» |
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| WHEN THE FEAR OF VIOLENCE FUELS AIDS |
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| 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» |
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| GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE PUTS DAMPER ON HAITI’S HIV RESPONSE |
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| 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» |
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| TILL DEATH DO US PART: MARRIAGE OF YOUNG GIRLS DOOMS ZAMBIA’S HIV RESPONSE |
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| 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» |
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| ABUSE OF YOUNG WOMEN FUELS THE HIV EPIDEMIC IN JAMAICA |
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| 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» |
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| MEN KEY TO TURNING THE TIDE ON HIV IN SOUTH AFRICA…BUT IT WILL TAKE A GENERATION |
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| Durban, South Africa (2010 Features): Patriarchal culture in South Africa is a major driver of the
AIDS pandemic. One of the main reasons for this are power inequalities between
men and women, cultural pressures and the high rate of crime, domestic and
sexual violence. Another driver of the epidemic is the fact that men are not
accessing health services in South Africa. Experts claim it will take a
generation to change the behaviour of men, which puts thousands of women at risk
of HIV. ...More» |
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| ARVs FOR ALL... BUT ZIMBABWEAN WOMEN |
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| Harare, Zimbabwe (2010 Features): When Zimbabwe’s prevention of child transmission (PCT) programme was renamed prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), men who felt excluded from the intervention are becoming vindictive and taking the drugs themselves. Some are of the mistaken belief that their wives are receiving the life-saving antiretroviral drugs while they are not. ...More» |
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| URBAN WOMEN: THE HIDDEN FACE OF AIDS IN PAKISTAN |
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| More and more women in Asia are living with HIV after having unprotected sex with their HIV-positive husbands. These are women who are in a monogamous relationship but still contract the virus. Many of them are urban, educated and employed women. But when it comes to facing social prejudice, their situation is just as precarious as those of women in the villages. ...More» |
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| WOMEN LIVING WITH HIV ARE POSITIVE THEY WANT BABIES |
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Kingston, Jamaica (2010 Features): Janelle* is determined that before her
23rd birthday, she will have her second child. The 22 year old is HIV
positive.
“I don’t know how long I am going to live,” she says
candidly. “Yes, there is medication to make me live longer with HIV now,
but opportunistic infections can come anytime. I know I have HIV, so I
want to have my child early so I can be around for him/her as long as
possible.”...More» |
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| WOMEN FACE UPHILL BATTLE IN HIV FIGHT |
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| Maseru, Lesotho (2010 Features): Life changed overnight for Lebohang Malefane. Lebohang , a 25
year old young pregnant mother in Mafeteng district, about 79km south of the
capital Maseru, was disowned by her husband after she told him she tested
positive at the local clinic. This is her second child. Her husband is a migrant
worker at one of the gold mines in Johannesburg, South Africa. He believes that
Lebohang was unfaithful while he was at work. Lebohang was unemployed and
depended entirely on her husband. He was the sole breadwinner in the
family. ...More» |
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| DAMNED IF YOU TEST, DAMNED IF YOU DON’T |
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Pregnant women in Zimbabwe have to take a mandatory HIV test. It sounds like a fine idea in a country with very high rates of HIV, but should they test positive their husbands can turn violent or turn them out of their homes. Not just that, women end up being blamed for spreading the virus as well – with no evidence for it. This state of affairs is leaving a lot of women very frustrated and angry, and there are growing calls for men to be tested as well as women.
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| VIOLENT MEN THREATEN HEALTH GAINS IN KENYA |
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Domestic violence is emerging as a major problem in
Kenya. It fuels the HIV epidemic (through marital rape, for instance) as men
refuse to wear condoms for cultural reasons. According to one study, 40 percent
of married women in Kenya have experienced physical violence by their husbands,
and 16 percent report sexual violence.
...More» |
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