MODULE TWO: COUNSELLING - FHI 360 Center for Global Health ...

Death
WOMEN AND HIV/AIDS
Women More Vulnerable to HIV/AIDS
Globally, there are more HIV infected women than men. There are many
reasons for this: Women have a higher biological vulnerability to HIV infection
than men do. There are also many socio-economic and behaviour factors that
result in women having an increased risk for HIV infection. Following are
examples of a few of them. Encourage participants to add their own ideas,
especially about social factors that may be more common in Nigeria (such as
Polygamy).
Socio-economic and behavioural factors:
Women suffer from a lower status than men within the family and society. This
disempowerment makes them vulnerable to HIV for many reasons:
• Girls are often denied education, suffering from lack of income generating
skills and low economic status. As a result, they are often dependent on
men, or they are forced to exchange sex for money, food or material
goods.
• Women are often the heads of household, which results in added pressure
to earn money.
• Women initiate sexual relations at an earlier age than men do.
• Women are more likely to be victims of rape and domestic violence. They
are often afraid to use the protection provided by the law for fear of
reprisals. In addition, the local laws are not favourable for females.
• In many cultures, it is very difficult for women to negotiate condom use
and other reproductive health issues with their partners.
• Female genital mutilation or female circumcision can put girls at risk
through contaminated razor blades or cutting instruments.
• Wife inheritance and “ritual sexual cleansing” may require widowed
women to engage in sexual relationships with their husband’s brothers or
other male relatives.
• Women often neglect their own health needs due to their disempowered
position within the family and society.
Bio-medical factors
• HIV needs an entry point and an exit point. The entry point in women
(the vagina) is much larger than the entry point in men (the opening of
the penis). Also, a man’s semen stays inside of a woman for quite some
time. Therefore, there is a higher chance that the virus will infect women
than men.
Session 8-Pg.5