“Almost half the HIV-positive people in the world are now women, but in Africa, where the epidemic has stretched the furthest, young women are three times more likely to be HIV-positive than young men. Gender inequality leaves women with less control than men over their bodies and their lives. They have less information about how to prevent HIV, and fewer resources to take preventative measures. They face barriers to the negotiation of safe sex that include economic dependency and violence. In some cases, poverty forces women into the sex trade. And regardless of whether they themselves are HIV positive or sick with AIDS, women assume the burden of home-based care for others who are sick or dying.” – UNIFEM Australia website
Click here to read more at the UNIFEM Australia website, or download a Gender and HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet UNIFEM Australia published to coincide with World AIDS Day, December 1.
