When the world first learned of HIV/AIDS, many mistakenly believed the illness only affected gay men. As HIV/AIDS spread in the early 1980s, eventually rising to the level of an epidemic, men accounted for most of the cases reported.

But today, women make up more than half of the people living with HIV around the world.

In the past 35 years, nearly 78 million people have been infected with HIV, according to UNAIDS. Though global rates of new infections are on the decline, women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.

Approximately 1,000 adolescent girls and young women contract HIV every day. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the incidence of HIV/AIDS is highest, women and girls account for almost 75% of all new infections.

Discriminatory laws and cultural attitudes that restrict women and girls’ opportunities make them especially vulnerable to HIV infection. Around the world, women and girls face persistent gender inequality and, often, violence that can make it more difficult for them to access health services and treatment.

Read the full article about ending HIV by Daniele Selby at Global Citizen.