hOW WOMEN LiviNg WiTh hiv WiLL hELp ThE WOrLD - unaids

100 Pages·2012·5.27 MB·English

Reaching the ten taRgets oF the 2011
United nations geneRal assembly
Political declaRation on hiV and aids
WOMEN
OUT LOUD
hOW WOMEN LiviNg WiTh hiv
WiLL hELp ThE WOrLD END AiDS
Reaching the ten taRgets oF the 2011
United nations geneRal assembly
Political declaRation on hiV and aids
WOMEN
OUT LOUD
hOW WOMEN LiviNg WiTh hiv
WiLL hELp ThE WOrLD END AiDS
Copyright © 2012
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
All rights reserved
The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the
expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNAIDS concerning the legal status of any country,
territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
UNAIDS does not warrant that the information published in this publication is complete and correct and
shall not be liable for any damages incurred as a result of its use.
WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Women out loud: How women living with HIV will help the world end AIDS.
“UNAIDS / JC2416E”
1.HIV infections – prevention and control. 2.HIV infections – transmission. 3.Acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome – prevention and control. 4.Women. I.UNAIDS.
ISBN 978-92-9173-995-0 (NLM classification: WC 503.6)
contents
Reduce sexual tRansmission 8
PReVent HiV amonG PeoPle WHo inJect dRuGs 18
eliminate neW HiV infections amonG cHildRen 26
and KeeP tHeiR motHeRs aliVe
15 million accessinG tReatment 34
aVoid tb deatHs 42
close tHe ResouRce GaP 50
eliminate GendeR inequalities 60
eliminate stiGma and discRimination 68
eliminate HiV-Related RestRictions on entRY, 78
staY and Residence
stRenGtHen HiV inteGRation 86
FoRewoRd
Women may make up half the world’s population, but they do not share it equally. This
is especially evident when it comes to HIV. Half of all people living with HIV are women,
yet many are underserved or do not know their status. Despite the many successes we
have seen, women still face inequalities that will keep the AIDS response from reaching
its full potential.
Women out loud amplifies the voices of women living with HIV so that their knowledge
is shared and acted upon. This is essential to achieve the 10 targets of the 2011 United
Nations Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS.
Those who collaborated on this report present a snapshot of the diversity of women
living with HIV. They are grandmothers, wives, mothers, transgender women, migrants
and students. They include women who use drugs, women who have engaged in sex
work, women who have been in prison and young women born with HIV. They are
women working in grass-roots networks, international nongovernmental organizations,
academia and the United Nations. They are leaders in their own right and living proof
that women living with HIV can build better futures for themselves, their loved ones and
their communities.
This report reinforces UNAIDS’ efforts to strengthen the AIDS response’s focus
on women. We celebrate the fact that UN Women has joined UNAIDS as its 11th
Cosponsor and hope that the newly created UNAIDS Women Living with HIV Dialogue
Platform will bring the voices and influence of women living with HIV closer to the UN’s
day-to-day work.
It is our collective responsibility to push for the needed changes in laws, policies,
programmes and practices and to end continuing human-rights violations and gender
inequalities that enable HIV to spread. The full involvement of men, and securing their
commitment to change, must be central to these efforts.
As this report testifies, women’s leadership, resilience and good practices to transform
societies are widespread. What is needed now is stronger support for women’s full
participation in the response to HIV, and better data to track progress as it relates to
women. This requires a concerted effort to promote and protect the rights of women
and of all people living with HIV. When women speak out, we must listen carefully, and
act with solidarity and commitment to transform words into action.
Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director, UN Women
Jennifer Gatsi-Mallet, Executive Director, Namibian Women’s Health Network
Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, UNAIDS
rEDUcE
SExUAL
TrANSMiSSiON!
%
1 minUte 49 13.5×
Each minute, one young Women represent 49% of all Female sex workers are 13.5
woman is infected by HIV. adults living with HIV. times more likely to be living
with HIV than other women.
rEDUcE
SExUAL
TrANSMiSSiON!
taRget 1
RedUce seXUal tRansmission
oF hiV by 50% by 2015.
women RePResent 49% oF all adUlts liVing with hiV. in most aFFected
Regions, sUch as aFRica and the caRibbean, aboUt 60% oF PeoPle liVing
with hiV aRe women.
introduction
Globally, young women aged 15–24 are most vulnerable to HIV, with
infection rates twice as high as in young men, at 0.6%. This disparity is most
pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa, where 3.1% of young women are living
with HIV, versus 1.3% of young men. Each minute one young woman acquires
HIV, accounting for 22% of all new HIV infections (1), with sexual transmission
being the dominant mode of infection (2). Much remains to be done to ensure
that young people are able to correctly identify ways of preventing the sexual
transmission of HIV (Fig. 1.1).
Even in cases where HIV knowledge exists, harmful gender norms can act
as barriers for women to negotiate condom use and otherwise protect
themselves from HIV (3, 4, 5, 6). Surveys show that in 12 of 19 countries with
available data, less than 75% of women believe that a woman is justified in
refusing to have sex with her husband when she knows he has sex with other
women (Fig. 1.2). As a 2005 WHO multicountry study (7) showed, there is
a close link with violence. The proportion of women physically forced into
intercourse ranged from 4% to 46%, while 6% to 59% of the women reported
sexual abuse by a partner. This high rate of forced sex is particularly alarming
in the light of the AIDS epidemic and the difficulty that many women have in
protecting themselves from HIV infection.
10 | UNAIDS Women out loud