World AIDS Day

The world AIDS day campaign was launched in 1998 December 01. This global campaign aims to raise awareness, educate people about HIV/AIDS and fight stigma against people living with HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS statistics estimates that there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS including 2.5 million children.

What can I do to support World AIDS Day?

- wear a red ribbon to raise awareness
- give support to those that live with the pandemic
- donate or raise funds for your local organization working on HIV/AIDS issues

Women and HIV/AIDS
Women are at a greater risk of contracting HIV. Not only because of their biological structure but also women are still at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating for condom use and are often subjected to sex against their will. Even in marriages women are still at a risk of contracting HIV.  In some societies, women have few rights within sexual relationships and the family. Often men make the majority of decisions, such as whom they will marry and whether the man will have more than one sexual partner. This power imbalance means that it can be more difficult for women to protect themselves from getting infected with HIV.

For example, a woman may not be able to insist on the use of a condom if her husband is the one who makes the decisions. There are a number of things that can be done in order to reduce the burden of the epidemic on women. These include promoting and protecting women's human rights, increasing education and awareness among women and encouraging the development of new preventative technologies such as post-exposure prophylaxis and microbicides.

Most women carry the burden of caring for those that are infected with. Their role as "caregivers" often means that they have to think about others, before themselves and when pregnant, often have to contend with issues such as mother to child transmission and this has a negative effect on women. There is an increase in the number of child headed households and the responsibility often fall in the shoulders of the girl child.

UNAIDS say that at the end of 2007 there were an estimated 2 million children (under 15 years) living with HIV, most of whom were infected by their mothers. A large number of these children will not live to adulthood.

Violence against women
Women who are victims of sexual violence are at a higher risk of being exposed to HIV. The lack of condom use and the forced nature of rape means that women are immediately more vulnerable to HIV infection. One study of 1,366 South African women concluded that those women who were beaten or dominated by their partners were much more likely to become infected with HIV than women who were not.

Preventing HIV infection

• The female condom - Is the only female-initiated HIV prevention method presently available. These condoms can potentially help women to protect themselves from becoming infected with HIV if used correctly and consistently. However, although the female condom allows partners to share the responsibility of condom use, it still requires some degree of male cooperation.

• Post-exposure prophylaxis - Is an antiretroviral drug treatment that is thought to decrease the chances of HIV infection after exposure to HIV. This treatment could potentially benefit women who have been raped, if started within 72 hours of exposure. In many countries with high levels of sexual violence against women and high HIV prevalence, this treatment is not always freely available to women.

• There are plans underway to develop a microbicide - A gel or cream that could be applied vaginally without a partner even knowing and which would prevent HIV infection. Trials have been taking place for a number of years, but there is still no microbicide that actually works.

However, protecting women from HIV is not solely women's responsibility. Most women with HIV were infected by unprotected sex with an infected man. Preventing transmission is the responsibility of both partners, and men must play an equal role in this.

Related campaigns:
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

Sources:
www.unaids.org