- Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Family Planning
- Women, Girls, and HIV
- Maternal Health
- U.S. Foreign Policy & Funding
- Watch: Making U.S. Foreign Assistance Work for Women and Girls in Ethiopia
- Female Condoms and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Family Planning Policy Restrictions and HIV
- Global Health Initiative
- Global Gag Rule
- Helms Amendment
- Foreign Assistance Budget
- Foreign Assistance Reform
- Kemp-Kasten Amendment
- Abstinence & Fidelity
- Anti-Prostitution Pledge
- Advocacy and Foreign Assistance
- Why Women and Girls?
Women Living With HIV: Stigma
Gifty (right), from Ghana, lost her job and her house when her employer and landlord learned she was HIV positive. Fearing further retaliation, she hid her status and did not seek treatment, even during her pregnancy. Her son was born with HIV and later died.
Teresia (below), from Kenya, was 26 years old when she was coercively sterilized because of her HIV status.
While in office, Botswana’s former Minister of Health publicly blamed women for the spread of HIV.
All three stories demonstrate that stigma and discrimination are an accepted part of living with HIV, and that U.S. global HIV policy must advance both the human rights and the health needs of women living with HIV in order to make any progress against the virus. Stigma and discrimination cannot be a barrier to health care, and programs must recognize women’s holistic health needs. Vertical transmission programs must consider the health of the mother to be equal to the health of the baby; a baby born without HIV cannot be considered the only indicator for a success—a healthy mother during pregnanacy and post-birth is equally as critical. HIV was responsible for approximately 60,000 maternal deaths in 2009, and pregnancy alone further compromises the immune system of a woman living with HIV. Women living with HIV have a distinct set of needs. We have to consider each woman and all her needs to be paramount.
Additional resources:
Women Living With HIV: A Lesson in Resilience and Rights That US Congress, the World Cannot Ignore
The U.S. Global Health Initiative and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Integration
Related News
- The Integration of HIV and Gender-based Violence
December 16, 2011 - Women living with HIV championing the response to AIDS in Kenya
November 7, 2011 - Women and HIV
June 3, 2011 - Hillary Clinton Touts Global Health Initiative as Key Foreign Policy Tool
August 17, 2010 - Conversations with America: A Discussion on PEPFAR
August 10, 2010 - Uganda: Pepfar Makes U-Turn
August 4, 2010 - PEPFAR to Train Thousands of African Healthcare Workers
July 30, 2010 - Report to Congress on Costs of Treatment in PEPFAR
July 30, 2010
Related Publications
- Ficha técnica: ¿Qué tiene que ver la planificación familiar con el VIH? Todo.
La planificación familiar voluntaria es un componente indispensable de la prevención y el tratamiento del VIH. - What Does Family Planning Have to do With HIV? Everything.
Voluntary family planning is an indispensible component of HIV prevention and treatment. - Female Condoms and U.S. Foreign Assistance: An Unfinished Imperative for Women’s Health
Female Condoms and U.S. Foreign Assistance: An Unfinished Imperative for Women's Health, summarizes U.S. support for female condoms, identifies barriers, and offers concrete recommendations for improving U.S. efforts to increase access and availability of female condoms. - Policy Recommendations: Married Women and HIV: Comprehensive Prevention
In the absence of community-based efforts to alter the social structures that promote infidelity, public health programs which aim to reduce married women’s risk by telling men to be faithful will not succeed. - Research Summary: Marital Sex and the HIV Risk for Women Worldwide
Globally, women’s risk of contracting HIV is heightened if they are married, largely due to men’s extramarital sexual relationships. Despite this clear risk, current efforts to prevent the spread of HIV fall far short of protecting married women. - Human Trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and the Sex Sector
Current U.S. foreign policy relating to adults in the sex sector violates basic human rights, distracts from effective anti-trafficking efforts, and directly impedes global health programs intended to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS. - Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Ethiopia
On July 5-9, 2010, three U.S. state legislators traveled to Ethiopia to better understand the role of U.S. foreign assistance aimed at improving the quality of reproductive health care. This report documents that trip and makes recommendations for improving effectiveness of U.S. foreign assistance to advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls in Ethiopia. - Trends in U.S. Support for Global Female Condom Procurement, Distribution, and Programming
Historically, the U.S. government has shown strong support for international female condom procurement and distribution. However, U.S. leadership for female condom commodities has not extended to programming. This poster was developed for the 2010 XVIII International AIDS Conference.
Related Links
- Advocates for Youth
- AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families
- AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGIS)
- AIDS.org
- American Social Health Association (ASHA)
- amfAR
- Campaign to End AIDS
- Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)
- Cervical Barrier Advancement Society
- Contraceptive Research and Development Program (CONRAD)
- EngenderHealth
- Global Action for Children
- Global AIDS Alliance
- HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies
- HIV InSite
- Housing Works
- International AIDS Society
- International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
- International AIDS Women Caucus
- International Community of Women Living with AIDS (ICW)
- International Council of AIDS Service Organisations (ICASO)
- International HIV/AIDS Alliance
- International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
- International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC)
- JHPIEGO
- PEPFAR Watch
- Population Reference Bureau
- Prevention Now!
- Reproductive Health Matters
- The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
- The Female Health Company
- The Global Campaign for Microbicides
- Women, Children and HIV
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