The rapid spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has lead to an infringement of the human rights of men, women and children affected by the disease. Women, particularly women in low-income countries, bear a large part of this disease burden. The overall morbidity and mortality for women from sexually transmitted diseases, excluding HIV/AIDS, is over 4.5 times that of men. The onset of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has greatly exacerbated this situation. It has opened up a whole new area of human rights violations as the misappropriation of both gender and sexuality have fuelled the spread of the epidemic.

In relation to gender and HIV/AIDS, the starting point is to understand the actual gendered context in which people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS live, and how this structures their vulnerabilities and their rights

HIV prevention strategies will only be effective in protecting women from the effects of HIV if they embrace a recognition and active promotion of the human rights of women. They should not simply be the backdrop against which HIV/AIDS strategies are planned; rather the recognition of the human rights of women is essential if women are to protect themselves from HIV.

“Like every other epidemic, AIDS develops in the cracks and crevasses of society’s inequalities. We cannot face the epidemic if we try to hide the contradictions and conflicts which it exposes.”

Herbert Daniel, AIDS Activist [i]

The HIV Epidemic has already Encroached upon the Human Rights of Women in the Following Ways:

Women forcibly exposed to HIV infection, for example by rape, are being denied the right to life.
Many social, cultural and economic factors restrict women’s right to health and right of access to health care, further increasing their vulnerability to HIV.
Some women infected with HIV are suffering further denials of human rights through the deprivation of their right to bear children and their right of freedom of reproductive choice.
For women blamed for the spread of the HIV infection, the right to freedom from discrimination has a powerful meaning. Women are still seen by many as the vectors of HIV infection, suffering stigmatisation, rejection and expulsion from family and community structures.
Women's right to knowledge has also been transgressed in a number of ways during the course of the HIV epidemic. The recognition of women's right to knowledge is essential to their informed choice and action.

Rights

The right to liberty, security and freedom of movement
The right to dignity
The right to work
The right to education
The right to social security and services
The right to equality - equal protection before the law
The right to marriage and family life
The right to health

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

[i] UNDP Issues Paper No.8 "Women, the HIV Epidemic and Human Rights"

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