Elimination of Violence Against Women is Crucial to Fighting AIDS

Washington, DC - March 12, 2007

Violence against women and the spread of HIV/AIDS are inextricably linked and must be addressed together, according to a new report released by Women Won't Wait. Every woman has the “right to freedom from violence and to the highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive health and services.” PAI couldn’t agree more and urges governments and multilateral institutions to ensure that these fundamental human rights are fully integrated into their approach to HIV prevention.

According to Show Us The Money: Is Violence Against Women on the HIV & AIDS Funding Agenda, “[r]esearch confirms that violence, and particularly intimate partner violence… is a leading factor in the increasing ‘feminization’ of the global AIDS pandemic, resulting in disproportionately higher rates of HIV infection among women and girls.” Not only are women biologically more vulnerable to HIV infection from sexual intercourse, gender inequality in many societies makes it difficult for them to negotiate condom use, refuse sex or otherwise protect themselves from HIV. Programs designed to limit violence against women and improve the status of women in society must be implemented as a key component of HIV/AIDS prevention programs.

Unfortunately, donors don’t “specifically track their programming for and funding to violence eradication efforts within their HIV&AIDS portfolio.” As a result, donors and national governments can verbally support women’s rights as a component of HIV prevention programming, but there is no way to hold them accountable for actual programming initiatives. It’s time to connect the dots — and back rhetoric with money and policies.

Addressing violence against women should be a crucial part of comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention programming. This report is a first step in monitoring funding and programming, but more regimented tracking systems are necessary. National governments and donor agencies need to be held accountable to agreed-to development objectives, which include both curbing the AIDS pandemic and promoting gender equality. Otherwise, innocent lives will continue to be lost to AIDS and violence.

Population Action International (PAI) works to improve individual well-being and preserve global resources by mobilizing political and financial support for population, family planning and reproductive health policies and programs.