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http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/FeatureStories/archive/2008/20081027_WAD_2008.asp
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December 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Since 1988, efforts
made to respond to the epidemic have produced positive results, however, the
latest UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic indicates that the epidemic is
not yet over in any part of the world.
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GENDER
Gender comprises widely held beliefs, expectations, customs and practices
within a society that define ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ attributes, behaviours
and roles and responsibilities. Gender is an integral factor in determining an
individual’s vulnerability to HIV infection, his or her ability to access care,
support or treatment, and the ability to cope when infected or affected by HIV.
Gender norms, for example, often dictate that women and girls should be
ignorant and passive about sex, leaving them unable to negotiate safer sex or
access appropriate services. Gender norms in many societies also reinforce a
belief that men should seek multiple sexual partners, take risks and be
self-reliant. These norms work against prevention messages that support
fidelity and other protection measures from HIV infection. Some notions of
masculinity also condone violence against women, which has a direct link to HIV
vulnerability, and homophobia, which results in stigmatisation of men who have
sex with men, making these men more likely to hide their sexual behaviour and
less likely to access HIV services. (See "Women and Girls" and
"Men who have sex with men" for
more specific information on the impact of gender inequality on vulnerability
to HIV).
Gender inequality both fuels and intensifies the impact of the HIV epidemic and
is most effectively addressed on the national and community level. In the
context of HIV prevention, treatment, care and mitigation, this reinforces the
need for interventions that are directed at individual people. Reducing gender
inequality requires changing social norms, attitudes and behaviours through a
comprehensive set of policies and strategies.
At the 2006 High Level Meeting on AIDS, all member states of the United Nations
have pledged “ to eliminate gender inequalities, gender-based abuse and
violence” and to “increase the capacity of women and adolescent girls to
protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection, principally through the
provision of health care and services, including, inter alia, sexual and
reproductive health, and the provision of full access to comprehensive
information and education.”
Furthermore, as part of the same resolution, all member states of the United
Nations have also pledged to “ensure that women can exercise their right to
have control over, and decide freely and responsibly on, matters related to
their sexuality in order to increase their ability to protect themselves from
HIV infection, including their sexual and reproductive health… and to take all
necessary measures to create an enabling environment for the empowerment of
women and strengthen their economic independence; and in this context, reiterate
the importance of the role of men and boys in achieving gender equality;
UNAIDS identifies actions that must be taken to change the structural and
sociocultural underpinnings of stigma and discrimination, and these are also
essential to addressing gender inequality:
Priority actions to address gender inequalities
- Top leadership at every level of society must speak out
against stigma, discrimination, gender inequality and women’s empowerment
- Laws and policies that protect women and girls against
sexual violence, disinheritance and gender discrimination of all kinds,
including harmful traditional practices and sexual violence in and outside
of marriage must be enacted, publicized and enforced.
- Women must be adequately represented in policy-and decision-making
on AIDS.
- Laws and policies that directly address gender
inequality and bias against people perceived to be at heightened risk for
HIV, including sex workers and men who have sex with men, must be enacted
and enforced.
- Changes in laws and policies must be accompanied by
adequately funded “know your rights and social mobilization campaigns
against gender inequality and HIV related stigma and discrimination; the
campaigns should involve organizations of people living with HIV along
with all other elements of civil society in their planning and
implementation.
UNAIDS supports Governments to:
- Enact and enforce legislation, policies and programmes
that protect the rights of women and girls in terms of gender equality and
freedom from violence.
- Expand access to sexual and reproductive health care
programmes and integrate HIV into these.
- Promote campaigns and community dialogue to change
harmful gender norms, engage men and boys and eliminate violence against
women and girls.
- Keep girls in schools and make schools free of sexual
violence and exploitation.
- Implement economic empowerment schemes for women,
including women care-givers.
- Implement social support programmes for care-givers and
orphans, which also engage men and transform care-giving roles.
- Build the capacity of women’s organisations and gender
equality organizations as key partners in the development of national AIDS
strategies.
- Incorporate gender dimensions into monitoring and
evaluation activities, ensuring that data is disaggregated by sex, age and
marital status.
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