Amnesty: Violence Against Women Is Spreading AIDS

A report released today by the human rights group Amnesty International said that a global pandemic of violence against women is fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Amnesty report comes just one day after the annual report by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization showed that women comprise nearly half of the 37.2 million adults living with HIV, a proportion that rises to almost 60 percent in sub-Saharan Africa.

"The increasing spread of HIV/AIDS among women and sexual violence are interlinked," said Amnesty. "If governments are serious in their fight against the disease they also have to deal with another worldwide 'pandemic': violence against women."

Amnesty said mass rape and sexual violence in conflicts, combined with collapsing health-care systems in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, put women at a much greater risk of getting infected. In addition, studies from some areas of the world suggest the first sexual experience of a girl will often be forced, the group said, noting that many women who are raped do not seek medical advice for fear of being stigmatized within their communities.

"Traditional practices such as genital mutilation, early marriage, and the practice of newly bereaved widows being 'inherited' by other male relatives also increased women's exposure to the virus," Amnesty added.

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