Ending Gender Inequality: A Key to Stopping HIV
Hi, my name is [PRESENTER NAME]. IÕm [PRESENTER ROLE]. Welcome to ÒEnding
Gender Inequality: A Key to Stopping HIV.Ó This video will discuss how gender
inequality contributes to the spread of HIV and why ending it is a key to
stopping the pandemic. We will be
addressing the gender inequality that exists in both the developed and
developing worlds. The issues we
will discuss occur in both places.
Women are often advised to reduce their risk of HIV by abstaining from
sex until marriage, being faithful to their sexual partner, and always using a
condom. However, these recommendations do not address the social barriers women
often face when it comes to HIV prevention.
For women in many cultures, particularly in the developing world,
gender inequality denies them these options and leaves them at greatly
increased risk of contracting HIV. Abstaining from sex wonÕt help a woman if
she is raped by an HIV positive man. Guidance about mutual fidelity and using
condoms wonÕt help if a woman is in an unequal marriage or relationship where
she canÕt get the man to agree to be faithful, use condoms, or not have sex. In
cultures where women donÕt have equal economic opportunity and the option of
supporting themselves independently, women may find themselves trapped in
abusive relationships to men who are unfaithful with either men or women,
increasing their risk of acquiring any number of sexually transmitted diseases,
including HIV. Any of these situations can also be found in the developed
world.
LetÕs look at these issues one by one and discuss how gender inequality
and related problems are contributing to the spread of HIV.
Rape
If a woman has no control over her sexual rights, she is at increased
risk of contracting HIV through rape. In most developed countries, if a woman
is raped and knows her attacker, she can seek to have the attacker brought to
justice through the legal system.
It is clearly not that easy and many cases are not reported or are tied
up in the courts. But in many
parts of the world, legal systems don't exist or don't work. Women may be
discouraged from using the legal system or be unable to afford its fees and the
cost of an attorney.
When there is no trustworthy, reliable, functioning legal system, the
rule of law provides no protection and women are placed at increased risk of
having all of their rights violated, increasing their risk of being raped and
possibly contracting HIV.
Pressure to Have Sex or Marry
for Cultural Reasons
In some cultures, women experience peer pressure to have sex with a man
when they donÕt want to. One example is a custom known as Òsexual cleansing.Ó[1]
According to this custom, a woman whose husband has died is expected to have
sex with a male relative to purify her. Additionally, she may be expected to
marry a male relative. In either case, it is possible that one partner will
expose the other to HIV if they are HIV positive.
Cultural Acceptance of Male
Infidelity
There is often a double standard regarding fidelity in marriage: women
are expected to be faithful to their husbands, but men are allowed or even
expected to have additional sexual partners outside of the marriage. If the
husband chooses not to use a condom when having sex outside of marriage, the
woman may not be able to discuss it with him due to fear of physical or
economic consequences. Obviously, such cultural expectations place faithful
married women at high risk of contracting HIV.
No Legal Definition or
Enforcement of Marital Rape
A married woman must be able to refuse sex from her husband without
fear of retaliation. If a legal system does not include a law defining marital
rape or such laws are not enforced, a woman may find herself unable to refuse sex with her husband,
which will increase her risk of contracting HIV.
Domestic Abuse
In some cultures, there is acceptance of domestic violence. A study in
South Africa showed that ÒWomen with violent or controlling male partners are
at increased risk of HIV infection.Ó [2]
Unequal Property Rights
When a womanÕs husband is unfaithful, refuses to use condoms, is
abusive, and insists on having sex anyway, a womanÕs best option to protect
herself may be to separate and seek a divorce. But if legal systems favor the
husband in the case of divorce, women can become trapped in abusive or
dangerous marriages and may face loss of all marital assets and income.[3]
When women have equal status in a marriage and are able to negotiate terms for
safer sex with their husband as an equal, they can markedly reduce their risk
of contracting HIV.
Economic Inequalities
Women often experience economic inequalities. They may out of sheer
desperation turn to commercial sex work to pay for food for themselves and
their children.[4] Commercial sex
work places a woman at a greatly increased risk of contracting HIV and
transmitting it to clients and to any children she bears thereafter. Women need
to be provided equal economic opportunity with men to reduce the pressure to
turn to commercial sex work for survival.
HIV Stigma and Discrimination
Women who suspect they may be HIV positive and want to seek testing may
be deterred by the fear of stigma and discrimination,[5]
which are some of the most insidious factors that help spread HIV. Even if
women have the option of getting tested, counseled, and treated, possibly
saving their own life, their partnerÕs life, and the lives of any future
children, they may choose not to do so out of fear. The spread of HIV will not
be stopped until every person who wishes to be tested feels free to do so.
LetÕs finish
by reviewing some of the most important lessons from this video. HIV thrives
and spreads in an environment of gender inequality, stigma, and discrimination.
By improving the rights and opportunities of women both in the developed and developing worlds, we can make progress in the fight
against HIV.
No matter who you are, you are a valuable individual, and your life matters as do the lives of those in your community. Take care of yourself and those around you. As you take a stand for womenÕs rights and gender equality, you also take a stand against the stigma and discrimination that contribute to the spread of HIV.
Thank you for
your help in the fight against HIV. This is [PRESENTER NAME].
Script
by Eric Krock of AIDSvideos.org and Becky Kuhn, M.D. of Global Lifeworks.
This script was reviewed for
accuracy and approved by Becky Kuhn, M.D. on July 30, 2011.
WORKS CITED
AVERT.org.
ÒWomen HIV & AIDS.Ó http://www.avert.org/women-hiv-aids.htm. Accessed 30
July 2011.
AVERT.org.
ÒHIV & AIDS Stigma and Discrimination.Ó http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-stigma.htm.
Accessed 30 July 2011.
Dunkle KL, et al.
"Gender-based violence, relationship power, and risk of HIV infection in
women attending antenatal clinics in South Africa." The Lancet, Volume 363,
Issue 9419, Pages 1415 - 1421, 1 May 2004. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16098-4.
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(04)16098-4/fulltext
Accessed 30 July 2011.
LaFraniere, Sharon. ÒAIDS
Now Compels Africa to Challenge WidowsÕ ÔCleansing.ÕÓ 11 May 2005 New York
Times.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
World Health Organization,
ÒAntiretroviral Drugs for Treating Pregnant Women and Preventing HIV Infection
in Infants in Resource-Limited Settings: Towards Universal Access,Ó 2006
version, http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/guidelines/pmtct/en/index.html
[1] LaFraniere, Sharon. ÒAIDS Now Compels Africa to Challenge WidowsÕ ÔCleansing.ÕÓ 11 May 2005 New York Times.
[2] Dunkle KL, et al. "Gender-based violence, relationship power, and risk of HIV infection in women attending antenatal clinics in South Africa." The Lancet, Volume 363, Issue 9419, Pages 1415 - 1421, 1 May 2004. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16098-4. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(04)16098-4/fulltext Accessed 30 July 2011.
[3] AVERT.org. ÒWomen HIV & AIDS.Ó http://www.avert.org/women-hiv-aids.htm. Accessed 30 July 2011.
[4] ÒWomen HIV & AIDS.Ó
[5] AVERT.org. ÒHIV & AIDS Stigma and Discrimination.Ó http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-stigma.htm. Accessed 30 July 2011.