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ZIMBABWE:
Action against gender inequality needed to defeat AIDS
IRIN
News
August 13, 2004
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=3747
HARARE - Urgent
action against gender inequality is required to tackle the high
rate of HIV-infection among women and girls in Zimbabwe, a report
prepared by a regional task force has warned.
Nearly 80 percent of all HIV infections in the 15 to 24 age group
were among young women, said the Zimbabwe country report of the
UN Secretary-General's Task Force on Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS in
Southern Africa. But too much attention was being paid to helping
women cope with caring for the sick and surviving relatives, rather
than to strategies to prevent them from becoming HIV-positive.
"The call to urgent action is clear," said Festo Kavishe, Acting
UN Resident Coordinator at the launch on Thursday of the report
'Facing the Future Together'. "If we fail to transform the status
of women, the tragedy of HIV/AIDS will deepen, and the ability of
women to cope - already critically stressed - may totally disintegrate."
He added, "Many of our messages have failed to take into account
the specific needs of women and girls, and the often difficult reality
of their daily lives."
The report noted the existence of a strong policy framework on HIV
and AIDS in Zimbabwe, but highlighted that there was limited gender
expertise at national, provincial and district levels, "limiting
the development of well-targeted gender-sensitive programmes".
Prevention measures emphasising abstinence, fidelity and condom
use were insufficient for girls: they were more likely to start
having sex earlier than boys, and both women and girls were often
unable to negotiate safer sex with older partners, particularly
where transactional sex was involved.
The task force said keeping girls in school, where they were less
sexually active, was a crucial way of protecting them from HIV/AIDS,
and the more educated they were, the more aware they were of the
virus and prevention methods. But the cost of education and the
expectation of household duties from girls often conspired to keep
them out of school.
Violence against women and girls was also a factor driving the high
infection rates. The report called for strengthening legal, medical
and counseling services for survivors of violence, better enforcement
of the Sexual
Offences Act, and enactment of the Domestic
Violence Bill, which would make domestic violence a punishable
crime.
It also called for increased awareness training in property rights
for women and girls: discriminatory cultural and legal practices
often resulted in women and orphaned girls being left destitute
after the death of a husband or parents, while ignorance of their
rights further marginalised and impoverished women, leading to an
increased risk of HIV infection.
The burden of caregiving in their communities had resulted in "burnout"
for many women, reducing their ability to engage in income generating
activities. The weight of this responsibility should be eased through
strengthening the public health system, investment in home-based
care and orphan support, and increased participation of men in these
activities.
Since most Zimbabwean women were economically dependent on men,
and not always able to access social services, the national antiretroviral
treatment programme should ensure gender equality.
The aim of the Task Force was to galvanise action to counter the
impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls, and make it a central priority
of the United Nations in collaboration with governments and civil
society. It focused on the nine countries in Southern Africa most
affected by HIV/AIDS: Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia,
South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
View the full report at: http://womenandaids.unaids.org/
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
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