UNAIDS Conference: Women at Risk in AIDS Pandemic

Okay. I’ll admit it’s not news that violence against women is a major cause of the AIDS pandemic, and that women bear the largest burden in new infections and total prevalence. But the specifics of the UNAIDS conference had me interested.

First, it’s always good to remind ourselves of the developments of AIDS, especially in hard-hit areas, like Africa and South/Southeast Asia. In Africa, women account for 60% of infections and in Asia the proportion of HIV-positive women to HIV-positive men is increasing.

But next, the conference intends to focus on specific differences that might underlie the differences in prevalence and incidence. Today, for example, the conference focused on violence.

Up to 70% of women face violence in their lifetime–in South Africa a woman is raped every minute.

I will try to keep up with this conference over the next week and a half, and I urge you to do the same.