Human Rights Day
Women living with HIV can achieve safe and satisfying sexual lives, but there is still a long way to go for this to be a reality for the most vulnerable amongst them who face repeated violations of their rights. Antiretroviral treatment, together with advances in overcoming stigma and discrimination, and the development of HIV prevention interventions have all given hope and a chance at a healthy life for many around the world. For those who remain the most vulnerable, however, there is not nearly enough progress. Many women and girls living with HIV have remained vulnerable due to a host of biological, social, cultural and economic reasons, including women’s continued social and economic inequality.
Women and girls living with HIV at risk of or living with HIV have additional challenges linked to sexual and reproductive health that include the risk of unintended pregnancy, complications arising from unsafe abortions, and a host of other sexual and reproductive health morbidities. Too many women and girls living with HIV also face violence. Violence, whether physical, sexual and/or emotional, or the fear of violence can prevent women from negotiating safer sex and from learning and/or sharing their HIV status. In addition, women living with HIV are sometimes blamed for bringing HIV into the family, for being immoral and for breaking sexual norms.
This special supplement discusses a range of perspectives and topics related to the sexual and reproductive health and human rights of women living with HIV. These perspectives include contributions from researchers, clinicians, programme managers, policy-makers, and women living with HIV. The final perspective is an important one allowing this Supplement to hear the voices of the women that we aim to support. The topics in this Supplement are equally varied from HIV pregnancy programming and sexual health to safer disclosure of HIV status, mental health and violence, amongst others. This wide range of topics demands an important appreciation that the field of sexual and reproductive health and human rights for women living with HIV is complex on many levels, and women living with HIV form a very diverse community.
- Access the supplement
Journal of the International AIDS Society 2015, 18(Suppl 5):20272