HIV/AIDS Part II: Women and HIV

December 1 2010 marks the 22nd annual WORLD AIDS DAY.This year's theme is "Universal Access and Human Rights."

Visit WORLD AIDS DAY and see what's going on in the world.

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Biologically and culturally women are more at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. In the case of Uganda, a country where women are still seen as inferior to men, women are still fighting the status quo to keep themselves and their children safe from HIV.

[ I think America does a pretty good job of "saying" otherwise but not really completely settling in to gender equality. I'd like to take ask all of the women who read this blog. Do you feel equally capable of doing the same things as a man? Do you feel treated the same as your male counterpart? ]

In the Life Skills class that Sister Emma and I taught at the local vocational school we found that many young ladies are still being given false information about their bodies and about HIV/AIDS. Many of them didn't know that it is, in fact, incurable. Others didn't understand how the virus functioned in their bodies and some were just speechless when we talked about the myths that they have been told since childhood.

"At the end of 2009 it was estimated that out of the 33.3 million adults worldwide living with HIV and AIDS, more than half are women. It is suggested that 98 percent of these women live in developing countries. The AIDS epidemic has had a unique impact on women, which has been exacerbated by their role within society and their biological vulnerability to HIV infection. "

Taken from AVERT

Here are some of the reasons that woman are more at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS:

1. Unequal gender rights

2. Rape

3. Not being able to negotiate condom use:

Men and women in Uganda enjoy large families. If a man wants to continue having children, he will not listen to a wife who wants to use a condom.

4. Forced sex in marriage:

It is a woman's duty in Uganda to please their husband, he has already paid the bride price for marriage, and it's considered part of the bargain.

5. Widow inheritance:

This practice is still common in Uganda. After the husband dies, the wife and all of the deceased's property are handed over to his brother.

6. Female circumcision:

Not very common in the Central region of Uganda, though there are male circumcision ceremonies in the East.

7. Early marriage:

There are many young girls who are forced to marry young. Being young, they are more likely to tear their vaginas during sex.

8. Biological factors that cause women to be 2x more likely to become infected than men during unprotected sex.