- Author
- Paxton, Susan; Alice Welbourn; with P Kousalya; Anandi Yuvaraj; Sapana Pradhan Malla; Motoko Seko
- Title
- "Oh! This One is Infected!": Women, HIV & Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region
- Imprint
- ICW - The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS, 2004, 27 pp
- Description
Expert Meeting on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights in Asia-Pacific Bangkok, 23-24 March 2004. Reproduced with the ICW's kind permission.
- Abstract
"By the end of the twentieth century, AIDS was the fourth leading cause of death in the world, after lower respiratory infection, heart disease and stroke. Women are more than four times more vulnerable to HIV infection than men are, women less than 20 years old are up to ten times more vulnerable and women are significantly more likely than men to experience AIDS-related discrimination after infection. The response to HIV and AIDS to date has failed to address adequately women’s inability to prevent themselves from becoming infected, resulting in a thriving epidemic and huge populations of HIV-positive women who live in unsafe and undignified conditions. The Asia-Pacific region is no exception. This paper sets out to explain the varied reasons why a significant majority of women in the region are disproportionately at risk of infection, documents specific examples of discriminatory attitudes and actions against HIV-positive women in the region as a result of their HIV status; and concludes with recommendations of action by and for all levels of society to counteract these human rights violations."