Health & HIV/AIDS

Africa: Women, violence and criminalization of HIV/Aids in Africa

2009-12-06, Issue 460

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/60810

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HIV/AIDS is an major issue in our times that is having diverse effects on the lives of women the world over and most especially in Africa. In 2007, an estimated 3.3 million people were living with HIV, 2.7 million people infected with the virus, and AIDS deaths also estimated at 2.3 million (UNAIDS, July 2008).

HIV/AIDS is an major issue in our times that is having diverse effects on the lives of women the world over and most especially in Africa. In 2007, an estimated 3.3 million people were living with HIV, 2.7 million people infected with the virus, and AIDS deaths also estimated at 2.3 million (UNAIDS, July 2008). HIV/AIDS cases have been reported in all regions of the world, especially in the developing countries. The pandemic is also becoming feminized. Almost 50 per cent of adults living with HIV today are women, for example, in Africa (UNAIDS, July 2008).

Currently, the benefits of combination antiretroviral therapy, a treatment that uses antiretroviral medicines to suppress viral replication and improve symptoms means, that at least, HIV no longer constitutes a death sentence particularly, in the developed countries. Yet, in the absence of a vaccine, preventive measures must remain extremely effective and affordable as interventions for slowing down the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

With the assumption that behavior is determined solely by a person's conscious decision HIV prevention has long been approached, at the level of targeting the individual behaviors. Yet, its spread continues! In the midst of the continued struggle to end this spread comes a new twist - the enactment of HIV-specific laws criminalizing the intentional or unknowing transmission (or risk of transmission) of the HIV virus. Several countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda (Moses Mulumba, Editorial, Equinet Newsletter, #85, 1 March 2008) and Mozambique (Plus News, 1 December 2008) in Africa often justify these laws and policies on the grounds of promoting public health. However, the WWW Campaign members have argued that these laws can impact negatively on access to health service, uptake of testing and experiences of stigma, particularly for the wider community of people living with HIV, especially women and may lead to increased violence.

Women have been dealing with the large repercussions of this pandemic due to stigma and discrimination associated with it, and these constitute major obstacles to effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care (United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS paragraph 13). Often, HIV-positive people suffer from being shunned by family, friends, and colleagues, are turned away from health care services, denied housing and employment. HIV-positive women and girls have suffered physical violence or murder, divorced or abandoned by their spouses, or evicted from homes by their families (in- laws). (IRIN News, 6 December 2007).

These limitations, especially the fear of discrimination make it more difficult for HIV-positive women to publicly acknowledge their status or, seek treatment. To avoid domestic violence many decide to live in denial or in constant fear thus not seeking for information about the disease, or tell their husbands/partners about their status. Many have delayed treatment or fail to take their medication regularly (Human Rights Watch 2007). Some cannot even guarantee their husbands’/partners’ fidelity yet, they cannot ask a HIV-positive husband/partner to wear a condom. Is criminalizing HIV/AIDS therefore integral to women’s fight against HIV/AIDS and violence against women and girls?

Criminalizing HIV/AIDS forgets that all human beings are not free to develop personal abilities and make choices without limitations set by gender roles. Physiologically, women are at greater risk of contracting the disease. However, gender inequality plays a crucial role in the feminization of HIV/AIDS, especially in patriarchal societies. Often, women lack information about their rights particularly those relating to sexual and health rights. Many have no control over their sexual and reproductive health, for example, they lack access to family planning services which are appropriate and are crucial for their health and lives and to the decline in the spread of HIV/AIDS. Moreover, ‘women have less access than men to education, credit, and formal employment’ thus limited resources to meet all their health needs (Long and Ankrah, 1996: 336-337). This also makes it very difficult for them to provide adequate support for their families and the dependence for many increases their vulnerability to different forms of violence.

Gender inequality, women’s disempowerment, and HIV/AIDS present women, particularly those that are HIV-positive, with a huge obstacle in their quest for socio-economic stability and independence. Part of the solution is to aim for women’s empowerment, that is, ‘the expansion in people’s ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them’ (Kabeer 2001). This can be achieved through increased access to information and education; participation in After HIV testing Support Groups and access to quality counseling services; ensuring that health centres provide for comprehensive health care which includes voluntary testing coupled with counseling and screening for violence for all patients that test for HIV whether positive or negative. This way, the women can be able to take control of their lives, especially making decision about their sexual and reproductive health by overcoming various social, cultural or economic limitations in their everyday lives and reducing the incidences of violence.

* A sociologist with specialization in "Gender and Development," Dr. Chineze J. Onyejekwe is currently adjunct faculty at the Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, Department of Women's and Gender Studies and Norah Matovu Winyi is the Executive Director of FEMNET

References
Human Rights Watch (2007) Hidden in the Mealie: Gender-based Abuses and Women’s HIV Treatment in Zambia. [online] URL: http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0002985/Zambia_gender_Dec2007.pdf

Kabeer, Naila “Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment.” In B. Sevefjord, Naila Kabeer, Patricia McFadden, Signe Arnfred, Edme Dominguez and Sherin Saadallah (2001) Discussing Women’s Empowerment: Theory and Practice. Sweden: Sida Studies No. 3. [online] URL: http://www.sida.se/sida/jsp/sida.jsp?d=118&a=2080&tipStatus=1&language=en_US

IRIN News “PAKISTAN: Traditional marriages ignore HIV/AIDS threat,” 6 December 2007. [online] URL: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75716
Long, Lynellyn D. and E. Maxine Ankrah (1996) Women’s Experiences with HIV/AIDS: An International Perspective. First Edition, New York: Columbia University Press.

Mulumba, Moses “Sound Policy or Attack on Health Rights: Are Laws Criminalizing Deliberate HIV Transmission Good for Public Health? “ Editorial, Equinet Newsletter, #85, 1 March 2008. [online] URL:

http://www.equinetafrica.org/newsletter/index.php?issue=85

Plus News “MOZAMBIQUE: Proposed law a mixed bag for people with HIV,” 1 December 2008. [Online] URL: http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81755
UNAIDS: 2008 Report on the global AIDS epidemic

[online] URL: http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/HIVData/GlobalReport/2008/2008_Global_report.asp

or http://data.unaids.org/pub/GlobalReport/2008/jc1510_2008_global_report_pp29_62_en.pdf

Women Thrive Worldwide, 9 May 2008. [online] URL: http://www.womenthrive.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=467&Itemid=0

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