UNAIDS: The First 10 Years

Chapter 6147Women urgently need tobe informed about HIVprevention. Here theMinistry of Health inJordan holds an AIDSawareness group meetingin a factory in Amman.UNAIDS/G.PirozziThe vulnerabilityof girls andwomen to HIVinfection goes tothe very heart ofsocial and culturalnorms aboutgender, as well asunderlining theneed for addressingthe impact ofpoverty.review 8 of the research on girls’ education and vulnerability to HIV between 1990 and 2007in Eastern, Southern and Central Africa confirmed this: ‘Put simply, education is key tobuilding “girl power!”’ However, the report revealed that early in the epidemic, before1995, women with a higher level of education were more vulnerable to HIV than thosewho were less educated. The most likely reason, the researchers concluded, is that morehighly educated people have better economic prospects, which influenced their lifestylechoices, making them more mobile. They are also more likely to live in urban areas whereHIV prevalence is high, and more likely to have more sexual partners. But as the epidemichas evolved, and there is far more information available about AIDS, more highly educatedgirls and women are better able to negotiate safer sex and reduce their risk of exposure toHIV. Thus those with less education have been at greater risk.Women are also among the poorest people in the world. An estimated 70% of the 1.2billion people living on less than one US dollar a day are women 9 , and economic vulnerabilityincreases vulnerability to HIV. Numerous studies show that women often becomesex workers or barter sex for economic gain or sheer survival. If their husbands die or leave,sex work may be the only option for women without any education or women who lack anyrights to their husband’s property. Surveys of sex workers in some urban areas between1998 and 2002 detected extraordinarily high levels of HIV infection: 74% in Ethiopia; 50%in South Africa; 45% in Guyana and 36% in Nepal 10 .The vulnerability of girls and women to HIV infection underlines the complex challenge ofpreventing HIV infection. It goes far beyond the provision of information and educationabout HIV and the provision of condoms – let alone the admonitions about abstinenceand fidelity. It goes to the very heart of social and cultural norms about gender, as well as8Hargreaves J, Boler T (2007). Girl Power. The Impact of Girls’ Education on HIV and Sexual Behaviour. Johannesburg,ActionAid International.9UNDP (2001/2002). Human Development Reports. UNDP, New York.10UNAIDS (2002). Global Report 2002. Geneva, UNAIDS.