Content Type
This brief examines the importance of women's land and property rights in the contexts of HIV and AIDS, violence against women, and food security. Land and property rights increase women's autonomy—decreasing their dependence on men and entrapment in abusive relationships, enabling greater control over sexual relations, and improving their ability to produce food for themselves and their families. This paper examines where and how these…
In South Africa, gender inequalities give men considerable relational power over young women, particularly in circumstances of poverty and where sex is materially rewarded. In this paper, the authors use qualitative interviews and ethnographic observation among 16 young women from the rural Eastern Cape to explore ways young women construct their femininities and exercise agency. The data were collected as part of an evaluation of Stepping…
This paper addresses the urgent need to rebalance HIV investments between treatment and prevention and to develop evidence-based approaches for protecting the large and vulnerable populations of adolescent girls who remain at risk of HIV. This paper outlines a stepwise engagement process for improving girls’ lives and reducing their HIV risk.
This article examines the role that gender inequality plays in limiting vertical HIV transmission (PMTCT) programmatic progress. The authors highlight a growing body of evidence that suggests that gender inequality, including gender-based violence, is a key obstacle to better outcomes related to all four components of a comprehensive PMTCT programme. Effective community- and facility-based strategies to transform harmful gender norms and…
This article presents baseline data from the SASA! (Swahili for 'now') Study, a cluster randomized trial of a community-mobilization intervention to prevent violence against women and HIV/AIDS in Kampala, Uganda. Findings confirm the importance of integrated strategies for intimate partner violence and HIV prevention.
This article considers the contextual factors underpinning the differential vulnerabilities of women and men in the workplace in South Africa. By relying on the existing literature and interviews with 33 key informants, the paper examines the extent to which South African workplaces are recognising women's social and biological vulnerability to HIV. In particular, the paper considers the potential role of the workplace in responding to…
The twin pandemics of violence against women (VAW) and HIV/AIDS are each rooted in gender discrimination, women’s subordination, disregard for women’s human rights, and the power imbalances between women and men that exist in societies all over the world. Violence against women and HIV/AIDS are also inextricably intertwined and mutually reinforcing in the lives of millions of women and girls: women who are subject to violence are more…
The briefs are intended as a resource for policymakers in Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as planners, programme managers, health professionals, service providers, civil society organizations, including key population networks, women’s rights organizations, and others who are advocating for the needs and rights of key affected women and girls. It is hoped that key affected women and girls in each…
The Organization of American States (OAS)—the world's oldest regional mechanism comprising 35 independent states of the Americas—has adopted a bold new Resolution on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of People Vulnerable to or Living with or Affected by HIV. The Resolution calls for specific measures to promote gender equality and address the needs of women, adolescents and girls, noting the strong inter-relation between gender-…
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has published Results, a World AIDS Day 2012 report. The report includes the most recent HIV/AIDS data, which shows that a more than 50% reduction in the rate of new HIV infections has been achieved across 25 low- and middle-income countries––more than half in Africa, the region most affected by HIV. It also proposes innovative strategies and makes country recommendations to…