As we celebrated International Women’s Day and applauded the many successes that women have, and continue to achieve globally, we are also reminded of the many challenges that remain. HIV/AIDS continues to be one such challenge.
Women who have been medical (and political) subjects of HIV/AIDS also have much to teach us during our current pandemic. Historically, women have been at the forefront of fighting to keep communities and families healthy.
The Department of Health will investigate allegations that women living with HIV were coerced to undergo involuntary sterilisation. Last month, the Commission for Gender Equality released a report on the practice after an investigation that was prompted by a complaint it received in 2015.
Between 1995 and 2018, the steepest decrease in new HIV infections among women occurred among adolescent girls and young women (aged 15 to 24 years)—a decline of 44% globally.
The HIV/Aids epidemic has always been far more than a health issue. The virus thrives on inequality, insecurity, stigma and discrimination, marginalisation, criminalisation and exclusion.