In a new report, Amnesty International said rural women in South Africa are disproportionately affected by poverty, HIV, sexual discrimination and abuse. Women under age 25 are up to four times more likely to have HIV than their male peers, AI said. And while the infection rate is leveling off in South Africa overall, it continues to grow among women.

In interviews, many women reported they did not want to get tested for HIV because they feared the wrath of their communities or partners. Many women feared abuse for seeking treatment, though the report also found that long distances and travel costs deterred many from testing. Nonetheless, women are much more likely to test for HIV than men in South Africa, the report found. In addition, women frequently suffered abuse for revealing their HIV diagnosis.

"Rural South African women's lives are scarred by persistent violence in their families, homes, and in under-policed, unsafe communities," said Michelle Kagari, deputy director of AI's Africa Program. "The coexistence of the epidemics of both HIV and violence against women has raised the costs of violence for South African women and girls, both physically and psychologically."

The report recommends the Department of Health and other relevant departments offer women counseling and support to anticipate potentially adverse reactions to HIV status disclosure.

The report said the government should increase efforts that address the "wider social and economic inequalities which act as barriers to effective prevention, treatment, and care for HIV/AIDS." It suggested a chronic-illness grant to improve HIV-positive women's access to health care. And it urged public figures to serve as role models in respecting women's rights to equality and sexual autonomy.

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