WUNRN
WOMEN WON'T WAIT - END HIV &
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. NOW.
1
December 2009. In response to the World AIDS Day 2009 theme 'Universal
Access and Human Rights', the Women WON’T wait. End HIV and Violence Against
Women. NOW Campaign urges all to advocate for an essential package of services
to be part of the integrated response to HIV and violence against women and
girls.
Statistics show that at least one out of every three women around the world
has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime.
Violence against women and girls is both a cause and a consequence of HIV;
women’s exposure to violence increasing their vulnerability to HIV infection;
and for many women, the fear of violence prevents them from disclosing their
HIV-positive status or seeking help and treatment. By now we know that it
is not possible to address HIV&AIDS without tackling violence against women
and girls.
In reality health systems are not adequately equipped to screen for and respond
to violence against women. In many cases, women who are HIV positive or
survivors of violence, continue to experience rights violations in health
systems. This happens when staff are untrained and due to a lack of
facilities to effectively address women’s human rights in the context of HIV
and violence.
Health systems are usually the first point of contact for women, including survivors of violence and HIV positive women. Therefore, health systems must have protocols and integrated services so that if a woman presents as HIV-positive or wants to be tested for HIV, she is also screened for violence, and if a woman presents with signs or injury from violence she is also counselled and screened for HIV.
Some of the essential services include, screening for violence, referrals and follow up for those who face violence, PEP, emergency contraception, safe and legal abortion, family planning, ART, etc. All services must be voluntary, non-coercive and must be premised on privacy, confidentiality, informed choice and informed decision making by women and girls.
As the Women WON’T wait. End HIV and Violence Against Women. NOW. Campaign we say that it is not enough to just recognise the link between violence against women and girls and HIV. This has to be translated into delivery of integrated services. NOW. Without this, women will continue to carry both the social and health consequences related to HIV and violence against women.
About Women WON’T wait. End HIV and Violence Against Women. NOW.
Campaign
The Women WON’T wait. End HIV and Violence Against Women. NOW. Campaign is an international alliance of women’s rights advocates committed to working collectively and in a coordinated way to advance the intersection of HIV&AIDS and violence against women and girls.
The Campaign has been launched at the international level, regional level and in several countries such as Uganda, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Guatemala to name a few. In Sierra Leone for example, public awareness campaigns and strategic lobbying has led to the speedy enactment of three drafted three bills, in circulation since 2004 – (i) Registration of Customary Marriages and Divorce, (ii) Intestate Succession, and (iii) Domestic Violence Bills. These actions have effectively changed the landscape of women’s human rights in Sierra Leone. There are other such examples at the national level.
International Members of the Campaign: Action Aid; African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET); Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID); Akina Mama wa Afrika; Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL); Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE); Fundación para Estudio e Investigación de la Mujer (FEIM); GESTOS-Soropositividade, Comunicação & Gênero; International Community of Women Living with HIV&AIDS Southern Africa (ICW-Southern Africa); International Women’s AIDS Caucus; International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC); Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network; Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA); Program on International Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health; SANGRAM; VAMP; and Women and Law in Southern Africa (WLSA).
For more information on the Women WON’T wait. End HIV and Violence Against Women. NOW. Campaign: www.womenwontwait.org
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