The massive and rapid spread of HIV/AIDS is not just a health issue. It is a human development issue, an equity and equality issue and a significant threat to international peace and security.

HIV can spread rapidly where there is poverty, powerlessness and social instability - conditions that are often at their most extreme during conflict. In emergencies of war or civil strife, HIV/AIDS prevention and care services can be severely disrupted or break down altogether.

The security of women is particularly at risk. Whether it is economic, food, health, personal or political security, women and young girls are affected in many ways.
More than 75 % of displaced people are women and their dependant children.[1]
Displacement, internally or across borders, is disruptive and dangerous. It deprives women of the security of their community and exposes them to hunger, disease, violence and sexual assault. They are affected because of their physical, emotional and economic differences and because of the important social, economic, and political inequalities existing between women and men.

"Sexual violence is the most obvious distinctive experience of women in armed conflict…. It has been said that women's bodies are the fighting ground for the battle between men and since within many societies a woman's chastity is a matter of family honour, rape is perceived to be the ultimate humiliation of the male enemy."

Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1998)

Several factors contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS in war and emergency situations and subsequently effect gender relations and add to women's vulnerability:

Gender-based violence and sexual exploitation
During armed conflict, women and girls are threatened by rape, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking, sexual humiliation and mutilation. Rape is increasingly becoming a weapon of war, and women are often perceived as bounty during conflicts. Women and children face a heightened risk in all settings, whether at home, in flight or in camps for displaced people.
Breakdown in social structure and legal protection
During times of conflict sexual relationships become transitory, involving a greater number of partners.[ii] In absence of leisure, education and employment opportunities, young people may be involved with sex and marriage at a much earlier age. In such circumstances women and young girls are often sexually abused and less protected from sexual violence.
Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration
Failure to consider women's participation in conflict means that disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programmes are designed without taking into account women's special needs for physical and psycho-social support, vocational and skills training, and reproductive health care. Nearly all women abducted into armed groups are forced into sexual slavery, subjected to physical and emotional violence and forced to provide other personal services. [iii] Sexual taboos in communities make it especially difficult for these girls and women to reintegrate, particularly those with children born from their sexual enslavement.
Health infrastructure
The lack of health infrastructure means that access to condoms is limited, STD's are not treated and drugs that might prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV are not available. In temporary health care facilities, there is a lack of care and support for HIV infected persons. Women have less access to health facilities and confront more public discrimination because of the absence of medical and social support.
Education and skills training
Women and children often have little or no access to HIV information, schooling and recreation. The lack of education and skills training increases the tendency for women and children to get involved in risk behaviour that can further contribute to the spread of HIV, such as unprotected sex or alcohol and drug abuse.

Military and peacekeeping forces
These groups tend to have higher rates of HIV infection than the population at large. In peacetime, STD infection rates among armed forces are generally 2 to 5 times higher than in comparable civilian populations. [iv] Military and peacekeeping forces often lack knowledge on HIV/AIDS transmission and the use of preventive means during sex. This behaviour puts soldiers and the military at extreme risk of HIV infection. This should be taken into account when examining gender relations and the interaction between the different groups at risk.

Why are military and peacekeeping personnel at higher risk of exposure to HIV?

. Military and peacekeeping service often includes lengthy periods spent away from home, with the result that personnel are often looking for ways to relieve loneliness, stress and their sexual needs.
· The military's professional ethos tends to excuse or even encourage risk-taking.
· Most personnel are in the age group at greatest risk for HIV infection - the sexually active 15-24 year age group.
· Personnel sent on peacekeeping missions often earn more than local people, giving them the financial means to purchase sex.

UNAIDS

Prostitution
The need for money, food and other necessities is one of the major factors driving women into selling sex and encouraging others to do so. Prostitution very often becomes established in or around refugee camps and usually involves both the refugee and host communities.

A study of Dutch sailors and marines on peacekeeping duty in Cambodia found that 45 % reported having sexual contact with sex workers or other member of the local population during a five month tour.

UNAIDS

Women at the Peace Table

Women have suffered, and continue to suffer at the hands of men during times of war. While there is a growing recognition that women have a right to participate in political structures and decision-making, official peace processes are almost exclusively dominated by men and little has been done to encourage women's equal participation. Women's priorities in countries suffering armed violence continue to be marginalized, mainly because women's voices are rarely heard at the peace table.

If the gender implications of conflict and HIV/AIDS are to be properly adressed it is essential that women have a presence at the peace table.

International consensus has already been reached on the need to include women in all aspect of decision-making related to peace:

The UN Security Council resolution on Women, Peace and Security was the first ever passed by the Security Council that specifically addresses the impact of war on women, and women's contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace.
The Beijing Platform for Action, signed by 189 countries at the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference on Women, promotes women's equal participation at all stages of the peace process, including in decision-making.

[i] UN High Commission on Refugees
http://www.unhcr.ch/issues/women/women.htm

[ii] Kristoffersson, U. (2000): "HIV/AIDS as a human security issue: a gender perspective", Expert Group Meeting on "The HIV/AIDS Pandemic and its Gender Implications", Namibia November 2000

[iii] Kristoffersson, U. (2000): "HIV/AIDS as a human security issue: a gender perspective", Expert Group Meeting on "The HIV/AIDS Pandemic and its Gender Implications", Namibia November 2000

[iv] UNAIDS (1998): "AIDS and the Military", May 1998

Boxes: UNAIDS (1998): "AIDS and the Military", May 1998

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