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HIV/AIDS, Women and Conflict

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<p>Conflicts such as civil wars and national crises increase women and girls' vulnerability to [Pagelink infos="HIV/AIDS/AIDS|HIV/AIDS/AIDS"] infection. Forced displacement, [Pagelink infos="Rape|rape"] and other sexual violence expose women and girls to the risk of infection, one that they are completely powerless to prevent. As Ban Ki-Moon, UN&nbsp;Secretary-General, said on the occasion of [Pagelink infos="International Women's Day|International Women's Day"] (2009):&nbsp;<br />
</p>
<blockquote><i>“Violence against women is also linked to the spread of HIV/AIDS. In some countries, as many as one in three women will be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Women and girls are also systematically and deliberately subject to rape and sexual violence in war.”</i><br /></blockquote>
<p>A 1998 UNAIDS report conclude that:&nbsp;<br />
</p>
<blockquote><i>"Wars and armed conflicts generate fertile conditions for the spread of HIV. Rape inside or outside refugee camps has doubtless played a part in spreading the virus"<ref><a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp" alt="UNAIDS website">UNAIDS website</a></ref><br /></i></blockquote>
<div id="toc"><h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_hivaids-the-hidden-killer"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">HIV/AIDS - the hidden killer</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_relationship-between-conflict-and-hivaids"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Relationship between conflict and HIV/AIDS</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_security-council-resolution-1325-and-hivaids"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">Security Council Resolution 1325 and HIV/AIDS</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_unnbspaction-against-sexual-violence-in-conflict"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">UN&nbsp;Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_references"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#w_see-also"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">See Also</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div><h2 id="w_hivaids-the-hidden-killer">HIV/AIDS - the hidden killer<br /></h2>
<p>HIV/AIDS is a hidden killer in many conflicts, since many girls and women raped - sometimes as a result of targeted deliberate ethnic warfare - fall pregnant and give birth to children infected with the virus.<ref><a href="http://www.womenwarpeace.org/node/7" alt="Women, War & Peace">Women, War & Peace</a></ref> A Guardian (British newspaper) article on the aftermath of the [Pagelink infos="Gender Equality in Rwanda|Gender Equality in Rwanda"] genocide found that two-thirds of Tutsi women tested in one village had been infected by HIV/AIDS. Tens of thousands of women were gang-raped by Hutu soldiers or members of the interahamwe militias. The international tribunal for Rwanda was the first authority to declare rape an act of genocide when directed against women because of their ethnic origin.<ref><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2001/dec/05/christmasappeal" alt="The Guardian (2001), A pearl in Rwanda's genocide horror"">The Guardian (2001), A pearl in Rwanda's genocide horror"</a></ref>&nbsp; A UNAIDS report (2003) found that in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, the HIV prevalence among pregnant women from rural areas was 24% in 1995, as a result of rape and displacement during the 1994 genocide. <br />
</p>
<h2 id="w_relationship-between-conflict-and-hivaids">Relationship between conflict and HIV/AIDS<br /></h2>
<p><i>The following is an extract from UNAIDS</i>:&nbsp;The relationship between conflict and the spread of HIV is complex, unpredictable and poorly understood. It is influenced by such factors as population mobility, existing prevalence of HIV infection, and level of sexual interaction. 
</p><p>In regions where HIV prevalence rates are high, the epidemic destroys the very fabric of what constitutes a state: individuals, families, communities and political institutions. AIDS affects and eventually breaks down community structures. Public administration, governance and social services become unsustainable in the process, and both coping capacity and policing capacity are reduced. As a result, communal conflict is likely to increase, which is particularly true for areas with a history of violence and armed conflict. 
</p><p>AIDS also has a direct impact on military capacity. Among male population groups, military and police report the highest risk behaviour and number of partners. Sexually transmitted infection rates among military personnel are two to five times greater than those in civilian populations in peacetime. These figures increase dramatically during conflict.<ref><a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp" alt="UNAIDS website">UNAIDS website</a></ref> 
</p>
<h2 id="w_security-council-resolution-1325-and-hivaids">Security Council Resolution 1325 and HIV/AIDS<br /></h2>
<p>[Pagelink infos="United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325|Security Council Resolution 1325"] provides a specific clause concerning the increased risk of HIV/AIDS infection among girls and women in areas of military conflict: <br />
</p>
<blockquote><i>“the Secretary-General to provide to Member States training guidelines and materials on the protection, rights and the particular needs of women, as well as on the importance of involving women in all peacekeeping and peace-building measures, invites Member States to incorporate these elements as well as HIV/AIDS awareness training into their national training programmes for military and civilian police personnel in preparation for deployment and further requests the Secretary-General to ensure that civilian personnel of peacekeeping operations receive similar training.”</i><ref><a href="http://www.peacewomen.org/content/security-council-resolution-1325-english-translation" alt="UN SCR 1325">UN SCR 1325</a> </ref><br /></blockquote>
<h2 id="w_unnbspaction-against-sexual-violence-in-conflict">UN&nbsp;Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict<br /></h2>
<p>On International Women's Day 2007, a partnership of 12 different UN bodies was established to reduce sexual violence and protect women in periods of conflict. “[Pagelink infos="United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict|United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict"] seeks to draw attention to the issue of sexual violence in conflict and the need to do more, to improve the quality of programming to address sexual violence, to increase the coordination of efforts for comprehensive prevention and response services, and to improve accountability as well as to respond effectively to the needs of survivors. 
</p><p>The UN Action initiative is designed to create greater awareness of these abuses and, ultimately, end sexual violence to make the world safer for women and girls.
</p>
<h2 id="w_references">References</h2>
<p><references/>
</p>
<h2 id="w_see-also">See Also</h2>
<ul><li>[Pagelink infos="HIV/AIDS/AIDS|HIV/AIDS/AIDS"]
</li><li>[Pagelink infos="Women and the Conflict in DRC|Women and the Conflict in DRC"] 
</li><li>[Pagelink infos="Women and the Conflict in Darfur|Women and the Conflict in Darfur"] 
</li><li>[Pagelink infos="Women and the Conflict in Gender Equality in Colombia|Women and the Conflict in Gender Equality in Colombia"] 
</li><li>[Pagelink infos="Women and the Conflict in Gender Equality in Sri Lanka|Women and the Conflict in Gender Equality in Sri Lanka"]
</li></ul>
<p> 
</p>

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