Red Cross: Large Number of Married Women in Cambodia Falling Prey to HIV

Cambodia's fight against HIV/AIDS is being jeopardized by an alarmingly high number of married women in the country who are being infected with HIV by their unfaithful husbands, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies warned Wednesday. Monogamous married women comprise 42 percent of new HIV infections in Cambodia, the Red Cross said in a statement leading up to the July 11-16 International AIDS Conference in Bangkok.

Husbands who frequent prostitutes and do not use condoms are behind the trend, which is compounded by a high HIV-infection rate among female sex workers. Consequently, "we're now seeing that women are being infected at a faster rate than men in Cambodia and one of the biggest risks is actually being married," said Julie Hoare, a Red Cross consultant on HIV/AIDS in Cambodia. "And with an increase in infection among women, we're also seeing a higher rate of transmission from mothers to children."

Of the 20 new HIV infections occurring daily in Cambodia, statistics indicate seven are housewives and seven are infants. Among Cambodia's population of 13 million, 2.68 percent of people ages 15-49 are HIV-infected -- the highest rate in the Asia-Pacific region. Should the trend continue, the country -- one of the poorest in the world -- could lose its societal and economic core -- women and men in the prime of their lives who support children and elderly family members, the Red Cross noted.

Many of the workers in Cambodia's thriving sex industry are young and lack the confidence to insist on condom use. But by the time they developed it, they may have also acquired HIV from clients, said Cambodian police Capt. Lim Sarun.

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