Globally, women and girls are increasingly being infected and affected by HIV, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Women and girl’s vulnerability to HIV and its impact are inextricably linked to gender inequality. In much of the developing world, women and girls have fewer opportunities for education or employment, often do not enjoy equality in sexual relationships or in marriage, and face the burden of caring for family and community members who are ill from AIDS-related causes.

In Africa and Asia, women whose partners become sick or die due to AIDS are likely to face discrimination, abandonment, and violence. Testing positive for HIV or losing a husband to AIDS have caused women to lose their homes, possessions, or even custody of their children. Such economic insecurity results in women resorting to survival strategies, such as engaging in transactional sex that may increase their risk of contracting HIV.

According to a multi-country study by the World Health Organization (WHO), the proportion of women who had experienced physical or sexual violence, or both, by an intimate partner in their lifetime ranged from 15 to 71 percent. Numerous studies have shown strong associations between violence and women’s HIV status, such as limiting women’s ability to negotiate safer sex practices and access HIV services.

Read the full article about women with HIV at IssueLab.