WAC Women

In the following section you will find information on campaigning activity from women's groups at an international, regional and national level

Of the 39.5 million people living with HIV in the world today, almost half are women, up from 41% in 1997. Often, rates of infection in women and girls are increasing at a much faster level than men. In many places in the world, women, especially young women and girls can be particularly vulnerable to HIV and AIDS due to unequal power relationships caused by social, cultural and economic factors as well as violence, lack of information, limited access to treatment and other unique challenges.

Violence against women not only increases women’s vulnerability to HIV, it also presents a significant obstacle to accessing care, treatment and support for HIV positive women.

The lack of access to HIV-related information and treatment is highlighted as an additional challenge facing many women around the world. It has recently been reported that globally, only nine percent of pregnant women have access to ART to prevent mother to child transmission.

And in many societies, the burden of care for sick or orphaned family members most often falls on women and girls without sufficient social support, limiting their education and employment opportunities.

Why is leadership important from a woman’s perspective?

Despite these obstacles, women are leading the way for change. They are leaders in civil society organisations and networks of people living with HIV, in local communities and international politics. Women are speaking out and calling on leaders at every level to fulfill the promises they have made – for this generation and for the future.

Some of the key promises that women are demanding leaders to keep are:

  • Achieving universal access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services by 2010 to reduce the spread of HIV, maternal mortality and morbidity and eliminate the disproportionate burden on women’s lives and health or other adverse outcomes of unprotected sex.
  • Strengthening health and legal sectors responses to gender-based violence, stigma and discrimination against all persons and make ending all forms of violence against women and girls a central aspect of all bilateral and multilateral strategies including, but not limited to, HIV programmes.
  • Supporting universal access to comprehensive sexuality education for all women and youth.
  • Ensuring equitable access to productive resources and secure women’s property and inheritance rights.

To read more about women taking the lead to stop AIDS, please see below.

Articles in this section Articles in this section:

Press Release-Women Won't Wait Campaign

06 Mar 2008 – 13:06

March 4, 2008 (New York) — On its one year anniversary, the Women Won’t Wait. End HIV an…

ACT to End HIV and Violence against Women

07 Jan 2008 – 13:29

Within the toolkit below, you will find key information and advocacy tools to help end HIV a…

Africa Public Health Rights Alliance Issues Maternal Death Scorecard At Start of Women Deliver International Conference on Investing in Women¹s Health.

23 Oct 2007 – 14:21

Relentless Increase in African Maternal Death Could Be Equated To Genocide By Inaction ­Says…

Book: “If I Kept it to Myself”. Young women working to make a difference in a world with AIDS.

05 Sep 2007 – 11:12

In this book you will read about young women from all over the world, who have shaken their…

Women vow to lead change in response to AIDS

12 Jul 2007 – 10:02

Vowing that “we can lead the change we wish to see in the world”, participants at the World…

International Women's Summit 4-11 July 2007, Nairobi

17 Aug 2007 – 10:47

Women's Leadership Making a Difference on HIV and AIDS. The International Women's Summit…

Women Won't Wait Coalition Launched

22 Mar 2007 – 15:52

“Women Won't Wait”, a new international coalition of women's groups, launched its campaign t…

European Sisters speak out!

01 Mar 2007 – 16:09

The rights of women to decide freely about their sexual lives and the number and spacing of…

1,200 delegates turn out for the Women's conference on HIV/AIDS in Cameroon

12 Dec 2006 – 9:51

The Government of Cameroon, National and International NGOs, Diplomatic missions, UN systems…

Mabel Bianco

30 Nov 2006 – 8:31

In 2006 all governments at the UN reaffirmed the promise to STOP AIDS. Still, the epidemic…

Women in Action on World AIDS Day

30 Nov 2006 – 17:20

Many World AIDS Day activities focus on women, particularly the connection between violence…

Stopping Violence Against Women and Fighting AIDS

29 Nov 2006 – 15:51

The face of AIDS is increasingly young and female, and the statistics are startling. Nearly…