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[GENEVA, 22 March] - "Intersecting Human Rights: HIV and Violence against Women and Girls," a panel discussion organised by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership and ActionAid International, was held today with the participation of Dr. Ertürk, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences. Presenting alarming figures of HIV infection, Dr. Ertürk pointed out that the HIV and AIDS pandemic poses a serious global security concern, which is often eclipsed by the threat terrorism. She explained that the staggering number of women who suffer from HIV are not women who represent “deviance from the accepted social norm” such as prostitutes or drug-users, but in fact, most women contract HIV in monogamous relationships from husbands who are not monogamous. It is in this type of reality that the gender factor surfaces: promiscuity in males is still condoned whereas women’s sexuality must be guarded, making the risk of infection for “mainstream” middle-class women very high. Speaking of the link between HIV and AIDS and violence, Ertürk commented on the potential violence and stigmatization that women face once they have contracted HIV. She said that some of the key issues of contention which have become real challenges for advocacy at the UN have been 1. A woman’s right to control her own sexuality, which is necessary for her to negotiate safe sex. Cynthia Rotschild, Senior Policy Adviser of Women’s Global Leadership spoke of the HIV and AIDS and violence against women as having their roots in gender inequality. Addressed the problems in a human rights framework, she said that issues cut across groups of rights and often involve the violation of many rights such as torture and the right to information. She went on to speak of the impunity that State and non-State actors of violence enjoy and pointed out that while “stigma and discrimination” are pertinent “buzz-words,” they are not the only problems that women face. Many myths also put women at risk. One of these is that of “cleansing:” the belief that sexual intercourse with a virgin will cleanse/heal the HIV virus puts women and girls in a very vulnerable position. Another myth that is prevalent in the donor community is that saying no to sex before marriage can reduce the pandemic. In this face of the reality of women’s lives, such a strategy is irrelevant to their vulnerability to infection.
2. Access to affordable drugs.