amfAR has released an issue brief demonstrating a close connection between gender-based violence and HIV infection. The New York-based AIDS research foundation is calling for resources to develop, test, and implement behavioral, biomedical, and social interventions to address violence as both a cause and a consequence of HIV infection.
amfAR is sponsoring a symposium on sexual violence and HIV/AIDS among women at the 3rd International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Rio de Janeiro on July 25, 2005. The Issue Brief is available on amfAR's website.
In remarks made last week in South Africa, First Lady Laura Bush pointed out that ending domestic violence, rape, and sexual abuse were "essential to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS." In Rwanda, more than 70 percent of the quarter of a million women raped during the 1994 genocide who are alive today are HIV-positive. In the United States, nearly half of all HIV-positive women who disclose their status have experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abuse.
In spite of the evidence amfAR presents from these and related studies, the link between sexual violence and HIV is rarely discussed.
"As the disease burden of this epidemic is increasingly felt by women around the world, it is vital to understand all the reasons women are more vulnerable," said Judy Auerbach, Ph.D., Vice President, Public Policy and Program Development at amfAR. "Research shows us that violence is both a significant cause and a significant consequence of HIV infection among women."