10 April 2017
"If I have sex, I could go to jail." This is the reality of life for women living with HIV in Canada. It's a story I heard a few weeks ago from an African woman who had recently immigrated to Vancouver and is now faced with the profoundly isolating experience of being a Black HIV-positive woman in Canadian society. This may come as a surprise to anyone unfamiliar with HIV in Canada: Women (and men) who are living with HIV…
24 April 2017
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued the first Consolidated guideline on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV. The guidance is written for health care providers and aims to support them to provide effective care to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of women living with HIV. In addition to clinical recommendations, the guideline emphasises the importance of…
12 April 2017
India has passed a landmark bill which aims to ensure equal rights for those living with HIV/AIDS. The HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill, passed by the country's parliament on Tuesday, will make it illegal to discriminate against people living with and affected by HIV. It is the first of its kind in south Asia, and will make India the largest country in the world to ban this kind of discrimination.
15 April 2017
Horcelie Sinda Wa Mbongo was only 11 years old when she discovered that she was HIV positive. The 22-year-old Fine Arts student, who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo and lives in the UK, was born with HIV. And now, she is campaigning to end the stigma around HIV/AIDS.
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14 April 2017
You're invited to join a webinar with the World Health Organization (WHO) on the newly released guidance on hormonal contraceptive eligibility for women at high risk of HIV. It is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 26 at 9 a.m. U.S.-East Coast, 3 p.m. South Africa, 4 p.m. Eastern Africa.
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This toolkit was developed based on the experiences of women living with HIV engaged in the processes of New Funding Model for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) at community, national, regional and global levels. It contains experiences of women living with HIV through In-Country Dialogues, Performance Reviews of the National Strategic Plans 2011-12 in Kenya and Uganda, participation of women in the Joint…
5 April 2017
The Treatment Action Campaign’s Norah Mathe – now 25 years old and healthy – is on a mission to change the fact that although one in every 10 South Africans has HIV, only about a quarter of young people know how the virus is transmitted. These are the figures according the latest Human Sciences Research Council’s study on HIV prevalence.
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5 April 2017
An international group of researchers involved in the ANRS 12174 randomised controlled trial of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for infants say that it is high time we started giving PrEP to all breastfed babies of HIV-positive mothers in countries where the likelihood of transmission via breastfeeding remains significant.
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3 April 2017
“We have high youth unemployment and high teenage pregnancy,” Mr. Obed, a traditional leader in Shiselweni, Swaziland, told UNFPA. Yet many conservative, rural communities have resisted publicly discussing topics that would improve the health and rights of young people – including adolescent pregnancy, gender-based violence and sexually transmitted infections like HIV.
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9 April 2017
Reporter Bridget Mananavire talks to village health worker Mandy Mugari of Seke, Zimbabwe who plays an essential role in the primary health system to fight against HIV/AIDS. She explains her mission to expand access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care under very difficult conditions, and the potential to achieve sustainable epidemic control and end AIDS as a public health threat.
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On Thursday, 6 April 2017 Athena Network will be launching the #WhatWomenWant campaign to share and spread the word about what adolescent girls and young women want. This campaign will be used as a vehicle to amplify adolescent girls and young women's voices, connect with others, and build across and between issues, sectors, and movements. The campaign calls for sustained investments in women-led partnerships and feminist organizing to…
This report brings attention to achieving gender equality in the context of women, girls, and the HIV response. This six-month consultation in 2016 with adolescent women and young girls found that #WhatWomenWant is: collaboration and joint action by all to invest in women's HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), to be leaders and articulate the priorities of women and girls in all their diversity, and to speak to the new…
23 March 2017
A counsellor at the local AIDS Secretariat [in Antigua and Barbuda] said that its records have shown a reverse trend in the transmission of the HIV virus, as the rate of infection among females has increased. Oswald Hannays said the discovery is worthy of note because, “where in the early [stages] you had perhaps five to six males for every female that were infected, we now have an almost even one to one ratio.” The…
24 March 2017
A new meta-analysis has identified several strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) that may warrant special attention for women infected with HIV. Immunodeficiency associated with HIV infection is believed to adversely affect the health of women who also have HPV. Not only are women with HIV believed to have an increased risk of acquiring an HPV infection, the risk of developing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (also…
7 March 2017
There are an estimated 101,000 people living with HIV in the UK, 31% of whom are women. Yet women living with HIV are frequently invisible, their specific needs, experiences and challenges unrecognised, and their voices unheard. The public narrative around HIV often centres on gay men, and women are left behind. This creates the experience of being a ‘minority within a minority’, a phrase I’ve heard frequently during my PhD…
31 March 2017
Maurine Murenga is a wife and mother from Kenya who is changing the world for the better. Murenga has openly lived with HIV since 2002. Because of her experience with the disease, she wanted to help young women and adolescent girls in her country who also have the disease. The Lean on Me foundation that she created in 2008 now helps 7,290 women and teen girls in Kenya.
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This study aimed to better understand how couples involvement with SASA!, a violence against women and HIV-related community mobilisation intervention, influenced processes of change in relationships. Qualitative data were collected from each partner in separate interviews. Findings suggested that SASA! engagement contributed to degrees of change at the individual and relationship levels. SASA! activities, such as reflection around healthy…
This doctoral research project explores the experiences of women growing older with HIV in London, United Kingdom. It has a specific focus on women and the gendered experiences of ageing with HIV, in terms of community, social support, and health care needs. The research uses a feminist methodology along with participatory and narrative methods.
Persistent gender inequalities and human rights violations continue to drive the HIV epidemic in the ASEAN region. Women living with HIV in Asia face certain issues specific to them. HIV exacerbates poverty and women living with HIV are more likely than men living with HIV to be widowed, raise their children alone, and less likely to have income-generating capacity. These women also often miss out on crucial health education information…
This manual provides a conceptual framework and practical tools for government agencies, NGOs and inter-institutional networks to develop integrated HIV and Violence against Women (VAW) programmes and services that are context-specific. It includes frameworks and various tools for stakeholders to use.
The Spanish version of this manual can be found here.…