Gender inequality is a barrier to HIV/AIDS interventions, and women are on the frontline of the AIDS response.

Johanna French, MCC staff and former SALT participant
August 14, 2006

"Now you know your ABC’s, next time won’t you sing"…..What? Wait a minute! That’s crap! Does everyone only sing ABC and forget there is a lot more to it than that?! We haven’t finished, nor do we actually know our ABC’s anymore! The ABC method is good in many ways, but does not address nor solve many of the other disempowerment issues that are making HIV/AIDS a great burden on women around the world.

Alright, let me spell it out for you a bit more: A stands for Abstinence, but in many cases even when a woman abstains before marriage she could still be raped or suffer from sexual violence. This is a dangerous threat to women who have no power to stop men, and even their husbands in some cases, from raping them. B stands for Being Faithful. This is also an excellent principal but did you know that the majority of infections in many countries come from within marriages? Often faithful partners, especially women, become infected by their unfaithful partners. Often women are unable to negotiate protected sex or birth control rights and therefore can easily acquire HIV if their spouse is infected. Studies even show that in some African countries, even when girls delayed their sexual debut until marriage and were marrying older men, they were at high risk of acquiring HIV. They thought abstinence was their protection from HIV, but that protection ended with marriage. Unfortunately, many men who are older carry the virus, and therefore it is so important for women to know the status of their partner. Without knowing if their husbands are infected, women may be in danger of acquiring the virus if they are having unprotected sex, even if they have abstained until marriage. C stands for Condom Use, for people who can neither abstain nor be faithful. But often for many women, protected sex and condoms are non-negotiable or are not available. These are just some examples of the cracks of the ABC approach. Many women just don’t have choices. Issues run deep and will take more creative efforts to address.

Ladies, Girls, and Gentlemen! One of the themes at this conference is the issue of Gender Inequality around the globe, which is sadly one of the biggest obstacles to HIV prevention today. This issue is being pushed to the forefront, just as many women are also rising up to address the myriad of gender issues which are disempowering them from protecting themselves from HIV. This is one of the most important issues to learn and educate oneself about.

Women are the face of poverty and AIDS in Africa. Just under one half of the world population of those living with HIV/AIDS are women. But young women from the ages of 15-25 are three times more likely to get infected than men in the same age category. These statistics are troubling and complex.

As Bill and Melinda Gates also stated at the opening of the conference, "Until tools/power are placed in the hands of women, the prevention of HIV is nowhere in sight." In many countries, women are powerless over their sexual and reproductive rights. I attended a session today called “Women on the Frontline of the AIDS Response” with a panel of women from around the world, including Melinda Gates. Stories were told about the difficulties many women face, and many of the unjust, discriminatory, and marginalizing acts that have made countless women so much more vulnerable, susceptible to HIV, and also powerless in receiving adequate care and support.

I think of the women who I have met and worked with in Tanzania as an MCC volunteer. Many feel powerless because they lack economic opportunity. Many struggle to get healthcare or to even test their HIV status because their husbands do not allow them to be tested or get early access to treatment. And yet I also think of their incredible strength and resilience. I think of their incredible potential to be actors, educators, activists, care-givers, and ground breakers of the epidemic.

You can check out some of the stories of these incredible women on my personal blog.

One of the most imperative actions that the world community must take today is to promote gender equality, or else we are totally missing one of the biggest drivers of the epidemic. As Melinda Gates said, "All are created equal," a founding principle of the Gates Foundation. There will be no end to the epidemic until women have increased their God-given rights.

Some points that were discussed were:

• Women need education and to be able to take responsibility over their bodies.
• Women are the backbone of societies and need empowerment.
• Programs need to involve women in planning, management and implementation.
• Meaningful interventions need to be done to empower women.
• There are new preventative drugs being created to hopefully allow women greater rights to their sexual protection.
• Women need greater access to ARVs (Anti-retroviral therapy—medication for those with HIV) to allow them to take care and look after themselves and their families, and prolong their own lives.
• Women have little economic power in many countries and are economically dependent on men which can work to their disadvantage when social or cultural attitudes devalue or diminish the social and economic rights of women, and make them vulnerable to contracting HIV.
• WOMEN NEED GREATER ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES! Education, Life-Skills Training, Micro-Loan Programs etc. in order to BRIDGE THE GAP from women’s economic deficits!
• Women sex workers need economic opportunities that can bring food security without the need to engage in risky sex. They also need better sexual protection that does not depend on a man controlling how and when to use protection.
• Policy makers need to do more to help women and fight for women’s rights.
• Stigma remains another major issue that is inhibiting many women from being open about their status if they are living with HIV. Women are often unjustly persecuted and blamed for spreading the disease, even if they were faithful to one partner and were infected by their husbands.
• There is a great need to scale up Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission, which is easy to do if more women are tested and given medication, and precautions are taken to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus.
• There needs to be more emphasis on Poverty-Lifting programs for women that allow for greater access to micro-loans, and savings accounts, protection of inheritance, and clean water and health programs. Stopping the cycles of poverty can help with self-esteem and empower women to live productive and healthy lives.
• There need to be better sexual reproductive health programs for women and mentorship programs for young women.

So remember, there are many drivers of the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. AIDS is not just a biological disease. It is also a social disease, which is evidenced by the multiple social issues, including gender inequality, which are exacerbating the spread of HIV globally. Women are more vulnerable to becoming infected and also carry the biggest burden as care-givers for those living with and suffering from HIV/AIDS. Think of ways you can educate others to empower and assist women, who are all wonderfully created in the image of God, and whose human rights must be protected!