Close connection between gender-based violence and HIV infection

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."

Symposium speakers will present findings from research and lived experience that illustrate this relationship -- from the physiology of the female genital tract to violence in intimate relationships to rape. Speakers include Agnes Binagwaho of Rwanda's National AIDS Control Commission, Andrea Gielen of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Rachel Jewkes of the Medical Research Council of South Africa, Graciela Violeta Ross of the Bolivian Network of People with HIV and AIDS, and Robin Shattock of St. George's Hospital Medical School in London.

"Sexual violence, like HIV, transcends geography and culture," Dr. Auerbach said. "The symposium will make clear that the biological, behavioral, social, and political factors that contribute to the link between gender-based violence and HIV infection are present for women no matter what continent they live on and must be addressed as part of the global AIDS strategy."