Johannesburg — As violence against women continues to skyrocket around the globe – ActionAid is calling for accountability from decision-makers, donors and activists to speed up effective responses to the links between violence and the spread of HIV.
“Unless the global AIDS response acts now to address gender inequality and violence against women - the pandemic will continue,” said Neelanjana Mukhia, ActionAid’s Women’s Rights Policy and Campaign Coordinator.
Research shows that violence and the threat of violence increase women’s risk to HIV and that women make up 61% of those living with HIV in sub Saharan Africa while young women make up 70% of those affected.
In South Africa, Girls’ Net, supported by ActionAid, is helping young women try to cope with the experience of rape.
Nina Dhlomo,* now 18, was a 14-year-old girl raped by a gang of five men, masquerading as police, who forced their way into her home.
Her participation in Girls’ Net has helped her come to terms with what happened to her.
“Girls have something to say about their own lives and communities, and what they have to say shapes how we seek solutions and create laws,” said Lerato Legoabe, the Girls’ Net Project Manager. The project uses blogs, websites and radio to help women do that.
“To the girls who have experienced similar situations, we say, ‘Understand that it happened but that it shouldn’t stop you from getting an education and living your life to the fullest.’”
For Sonya Sharma*, a 17-year-old high school student, her involvement in the project landed her an invitation to Parliament to speak about forced marriage and influence legislation on a child rights bill.
“I was so scared but I knew I had to find the courage because the girls who are forced into marriage are my sisters – it happens around my area and I’ve seen it,” she said.
Vicky Vaidehi*, 20 a young artist, got involved in Girls’ Net because “power is in our hands and no one speaks for us.”
“Women and girls in every community confront the devastating impacts of gender inequality, violence and discrimination,” said Neelanjana Mukhia. “While violence against women and girls can lead to HIV, violence also follows infection as HIV positive women and girls become easy targets for stigma, discrimination and violence. It is time we confronted this together.”
ActionAid, with the Center for Women’s Global Leadership is calling for increased awareness to end violence against women and girls as part of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
ActionAid is a member of the Women Won’t Wait campaign, launched in 2007. It is an international coalition of organisations and networks from the global South and North, committed to women's health and human rights in the struggle to address HIV and AIDS and end all forms of violence against women and girls. www.womenwontwait.org
*Names have been changed to protect identity.
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