A dangerous liaison: HIV and the Gender Gap
- Part 1 -

Naorem Jiten *

"The Gender dynamics of the epidemic are reaching due to women's weaker ability to negotiate safe sex and their generally lower socio-economic status". UN Secretary General Kofi Annan summed up the problem in his "report of the Secretary General', 2001.

Poverty breeds powerlessness - the inability to control one's life. In addition, the poorest of the world's poor tend to be women. They are also the most disadvantaged by social and cultural notions of what is acceptable behaviour, sexual and otherwise.

The result is that women's inferior economic and social status directly increases their vulnerability to HIV, and limits their ability to control their sex lives and protect themselves. Women's economic dependence to men frequently reduces women's ability to determine the term on which they have sex, including whether a condom is used and whether their sexual partner is sexually faithful.

Living as they do on the margins of society, women and girls have to cope with vulnerable environments. Gender discrimination and inequality express themselves in many forms across societies. It is also established now that vulnerability to the infection is not random, nor is the impact.

Those inequalities not only facilitate the spread of HIV but they also are reinforced in those infected and affected. There is a growing recognition that the disempowerment of women - because of which they have no control over decisions about their bodies or sexual health - is largely responsible for the pace at which the infection is spreading in this group.

In addition, the gendered face of HIV/AIDS is integrally connected to the fact that women bear the major brunt of the psychologically, social and economic onslaught related to loss of livelihoods, poverty and care of the sick.

Gender-norms influence the way in which infected men and women are perceived, thus influencing ways in which individuals cope with HIV/AIDS. Effective implementation of gender sensitive programmes in HIV/AIDS requires an analysis of deferential political economy of risk in the State.

There are number of ways in which women are disproportionately affected by the epidemic. The social and economic status of many women makes them less able to protect themselves from infection.

If infected they face the prospect of passing on the disease to any children they may bear. They also take a greater share of the burden of caring for the sick.

When they themselves fall ill, they face more problem than men. Some husbands reject their wives, even though they are the sources of the women's infections.

Some reports state that women with AIDS are more likely to have to return to their families or place of origin for terminal care, while men are likely to be care for in their own home. Here a man continues to be head of household until his death, while women give up that status when she moves out of the husband's house.

Women constitute the most deprived section of the society and have very limited access resources, education, training and labour market. Forty four per cent of the world's illiterate women are in our region and accounts for one-third of the maternal-deaths.

Therefore women have to be able to achieve the gender-parity, particularly in issues of property and inheritance and, women therefore, should be seen to have greater role in decision-making. However, the impact of this is yet to be seen in the context of HIV/AIDS in the State.

The low economic and social position of women in our State has profound implications on the HIV epidemic. Women typically have limited access to reproductive health services and are often ignorant about HIV, the ways in which it can spread and prevention options.

Social and cultural norms often prevent from insisting on prevention methods such as use of condoms in their relations with their husbands. The congruence between indicators of women's poor status and their vulnerability to HIV demonstrate close link between patriarchy and HIV in our State.

The lack of decision-making is reflected in the increasingly high rates of infection among what are traditionally considered low risk populating groups.

The vulnerability of women is evident in the high rates of unwanted pregnancies and high prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDS).

to be continued....