What is HIV and AIDS?

Definitions
Sex - Refers to the biological differences between men and women. These differences are
generally universal and unchanging.
Sexuality - Refers to the total expression of who we are as men and women. It is about our
maleness and femaleness not simply body parts, reproduction or the physical act of coitus.
Gender - The socially constructed roles and responsibilities assigned to women and men in
a given culture or location and the societal structures that support them. These roles are
influenced by perceptions and expectations arising from cultural, political, environmental,
economic, social, and religious factors, as well as from custom, law, class, ethnicity, and
individual or institutional biases. Gender attitudes and behaviours are learned and can be
changed overtime.
(Source: HIV and AIDS peer education and life skills training workshop; Joel Balaquit HIV
Technical Adviser, VSO China Volunteer, 2007)
HIV and AIDS disproportionately affects girls, women and vulnerable men. The
reason for this are the socially constructed gender beliefs that are deeply entrenched
in societies across the world. In many countries, girls and women have less power
than men, particularly in relation to sexual health, making them increasingly
vulnerable to HIV infection. However, gender inequality does not only affect girls and
women but also vulnerable men. Men having sex with men and male sex workers are
increasingly at risk of HIV infection.
Why are HIV and Gender linked?
HIV transmission is based on social behaviours. These behaviours are determined by
the social, economic, political and cultural contexts in which gender roles are defined.
These roles can determine the level of knowledge, access to services and
decision-making power people have in their relationships with one another. For
example, in many societies a woman is unable to ask her husband or boyfriend to
wear a condom for fear of violence. So how do these gender roles affect men and
women?
For Women – Vulnerability to infection and risk-taking is increased by cultural
attitudes that makes it inappropriate for women to be knowledgeable about sex or to
suggest condom use; by the common link between substance abuse and the
exchange of sex for drugs or money; and by the economic need experienced by some
migrant and refugee women that forces them to resort to sex work.
For Men – Vulnerability to infection and risk-taking is heightened by cultural attitudes
that make it hard for men to admit to gaps in their knowledge about sex; by the link
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