WUNRN
HEALTH-ASIA: HIV, AIDS Take On A Woman's
Face
By Zofeen Ebrahim
COLOMBO, Aug 21 (IPS/TerraViva) - The feminisation of HIV
and AIDS continues in full swing in the Asia-Pacific, reflected in the fact
that almost 40 percent of new HIV cases are among women, even if the newest
estimates show that there are fewer people than originally estimated to be
living with the virus in the region.
What is alarming for Dr Nafis Sadik, special adviser to the
United Nations secretary-general and the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Envoy
for HIV and AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, is the disproportionate rate of HIV
among young married women. Marriage and fidelity seem to offer little
protection from the disease and societal attitudes kept women powerless and
poor, she said at the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the
Pacific (ICAAP) underway here.
"It is time to give them (married women) a face, a
voice," said Prasada Rao, regional director for the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV and AIDS. Quoting a study by the United Nations Development
Programme, Rao said that in South Asia, 40 percent of women leave their
in-laws' homes after their husbands' death due to AIDS, and 80 percent of them
are denied their property rights.
HIV, short for human immunodeficiency virus affects the
immune system and causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The soaring HIV rates among younger women was partly due to
the false notion that women's being ignorant about sex and sexuality until they
get married is an asset, Sadik said. She emphasised the need for sex and AIDS
education for young women as crucial to addressing the epidemic.
In countries like Thailand and Cambodia, more than 35
percent of new HIV cases are being reported among married women, trends that
worry experts even if the latest official figures show that there are 5.4
million people -- and not the original estimate of 8.3 million living with HIV
in the region.
Annmaree O'Keeffe of the Australian aid agency AusAID calls
HIV and AIDS a justice issue, an education issue, a business issue, a women's
issue and a development issue. She said: "It is an issue that requires
vision, leadership and commitment to address unpopular causes such as the
rights and needs of stigmatised and socially marginalised minorities, and where
necessary to challenge social norms regarding gender and sexuality."
"Discrimination against women, unequal power relations
between men and women constitute the basis of gender inequality that fuels the
feminisation of the epidemic," said Sunila Abeysekera, executive director
of Sri Lanka-based Inform, a documentation centre working on human rights in
conflict and war situations. Even after three decades of commitment - mostly
lip service -- by governments to the protection of women's rights -- she
considers the world an "extremely perilous place" for the female population.
"Sexual violence and economic dependence increase
women's vulnerability to HIV," agreed O'Keeffe. "The low economic and
social status of women in many societies means that women are not in a
sufficiently powerful position to negotiate safe sex." Thus, the ABC
(abstinence, be faithful and consistent use of condom) model is not likely to
succeed in protecting women unless broader contextual issues were addressed.
"Just take a look at who usually has the upper hand in
each of these three areas of sexual relations (abstinence-fidelity-condom use)
and we appreciate how limited the woman's negotiating position often is,"
she added.
Abeysekera agrees, explaining that unequal power
relationships make women more vulnerable to coercive and violent sex, which
often put them at a disadvantage and leave them with little or no option to
refuse sex, much less negotiate for safe and protected sex with her partners.
With women subjected to sexual exploitation, she emphasised
the need to look at the nexus between the two intersecting pandemics --
violence against women and HIV and AIDS -- not just through the health lenses
but to address it as social and cultural issues.
"As much as both violence against women and HIV and
AIDS are about physiology, epidemiology and bodies, they are also about
political and social transformation," said Abeysekera.
But women's woes do not end there. Once they have HIV, these
women become the target of further discrimination and violence because of their
positive status. "Fear of violence may lead to women not seeking
information and testing and may prevent them from disclosing their HIV status
and obtaining treatment and counseling."
"Marriage is far from being a guarantee of safety from
HIV for women," agreed O'Keeffe, citing as examples Cambodia, India and
Thailand where studies have shown that husbands were the primary source of HIV
for women. "And once women become HIV-positive, prevailing gender norms
also increase the likelihood that they will be blamed, ostracised and rejected
by their families."
Leaders were called upon to create enabling environments for
women and to invest in female education, to give them economic opportunities, a
necessary legal climate and frameworks that protect women from discrimination.
"We must strengthen our resolve to create a world in
which women and girls are able to live free of any form of discrimination,
coercion and violence including sexual coercion and sexual violence," said
Abeysekera, who called for a coherent gender analysis, adequate resource
allocation and a commitment to human rights and women's empowerment.
At the political level, she urged leaders to aim for
protection of women's rights under the law and to stem retrograde traditions
and practices that make them second-class citizens.
================================================================
To leave the list, send your request by email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.