WUNRN
ZAMBIA
Lusaka,
December 18, 2007 - The Zambian government is failing to
address the life-threatening obstacles facing Zambian women living with
HIV who experience domestic and gender-based violence, Human Rights
Watch said in a report released today. Gender-based violence and insecure
property rights are preventing Zambian women from accessing life-saving
antiretroviral treatment.
While acknowledging the significant overall progress made by the
Zambian government in scaling up HIV treatment generally, the 96-page
report, "Hidden in the Mealie Meal: Gender-Based Abuses and Women's
HIV Treatment in Zambia," documents how the government has fallen
short of its international legal obligations to combat violence and
discrimination against women. The report details abuses that obstruct
women's ability to start and adhere to HIV treatment regimens, including
violence against women and insecure property rights that often force
women into poverty and dependent, abusive relationships.
"Addressing domestic violence, property grabbing, and unequal
distribution of property upon divorce is critical to ensuring that women in
Zambia have equal access to antiretroviral medicine" said Nada Ali,
researcher in the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch and
author of the report. "Ignoring these abuses will mean that the Zambian
government's goal of universal access to HIV treatment by 2010 will fail."
Direct Link to Report:
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Gender-Based
Abuses and Women’s HIV Treatment
in Zambia
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II. Key Recommendations to the Government of Zambia and Zambia National Assembly
Access and Adherence to Treatment
V. The Impact of Gender-Based Abuses on Women’s HIV Treatment
VI. Zambia’s Response to Gender-Based Abuses Impeding Women’s HIV Treatment
VII. Zambia’s International Legal Obligations
VIII. Response of the International Community
To the Government of Zambia and the Zambia National Assembly
To UN Agencies and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health
December 2007 Volume 19, No. 18(A)
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