Kenya; Women AIDS Sufferers Lose Reproductive Rights

Throughout the world, women suffer from stigma, deprivation and second class citizenship because of their gender. In the case of HIV-positive women, this discrimination is compounded by responses to their HIV status. Particularly in developing countries, HIV-positive women may especially be subject to violations of their sexual and reproductive rights. In many societies, women's sexual rights and sexuality remain unrecognized or misunderstood, often owing to cultural and religious values.

Practices such as female genital mutilation, early and compulsory marriage of girls, denial of available treatments, sexual abuse, and the rape of girls and women create high risks for female HIV infection. These realities provide the rationale for women living with HIV in East Africa to convene in Nairobi for two days recently to map out ways of curbing the high level of stigma they face. Bringing together about 150 HIV-positive women from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, the conference -- "De-stigmatizing a Society Living with HIV/AIDS," was organized by the United Voice for Kenyan Women.

Waahu Kaara, who heads the United Voice for Kenyan Women, noted that when AIDS became a part of the national and world reality, it was immediately socially constructed by society as a stigmatized consequence of actions, a deliberate violation of social norms. For women who are assigned standards of behavior, AIDS has become an obvious marker of deviation from traditional norms.

In support of women with HIV/AIDS, the conference offers solace for the more than 200 women living with HIV in Kenya. A cross-section of the members interviewed at the conference confessed to a feeling of belonging and appreciation for getting access to information on the latest treatments or alternative therapies.

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