Useful Articles

The following are a small selection of some key articles about HIV and how it affects women and girls, both in the UK and worldwide.     
     

1. SPEECH BY LESLEY BULMAN-LEVER from September 2007 SOPHIA meeting on young women and HIV: click here
2. “THINKING POSITIVE” – HIV positive women in Namibia working with parliamentarians to improve women’s rights: click here
3. THE VITAL ROLE OF HIV POSITIVE TEACHERS and GOOD TEACHING SUPPORT for children with HIV in an effective response to HIV and AIDS: Supporting HIV-Positive Teachers in East and Southern Africa report (click here) and Supporting the educational needs of HIV-positive learners: lessons from Namibia and Tanzania (click here)
4. British Red Cross report on stigma and discrimination against people with HIV in the UK: "If your friend had HIV, what would you do?"Click here
   One in seven young British people would not be willing to stay friends with someone diagnosed with HIV, according to a British Red Cross survey. Carried out by Ipsos MORI, the survey of people in Great Britain aged between 14-25 shows worrying levels of stigma and complacency around HIV/AIDS.  One in five young Britons surveyed would not care for a member of their family suffering from the disease.
5. GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN AND SEXUAL HEALTH IN THE UK. Report from GirlGuiding UK. Click here to find out what girls and young women are shouting about.
6. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT FROM ZAMBIA LINKING HIV TO GENDER VIOLENCE AND INSECURE PROPERTY RIGHTS FOR WOMEN: "Hidden in the Mealie Meal: Gender-Based Abuses and Women's HIV Treatment in Zambia." Click here
   This report echoes the experiences of many HIV positive women who are members of ICW in many countries of the world. In many countries, even women who have well paid jobs of their own, such as teachers and nurses, business women or academics, experience gender violence and insecure property rights as the norm in their families. Vulnerability to HIV is exacerbated by these norms and, in turn, they increase the damaging effects of HIV on a woman and her dependants.
7. INTEGRATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND THE GENDER PERSPECTIVE: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN INTERSECTIONS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND HIV/AIDS. Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Ertürk. Click here (and click on “E” to the right of the page you reach, to access the English language version of this document)
8. SPEECH BY THE UN SECRETARY GENERAL’S SPECIAL ENVOY FOR AIDS IN AFRICA about the links between women, HIV and access to livelihoods property and inheritance rights. Click here
9. PERSONAL STORIES FROM WOMEN IN THE UK. We tend to think that now drugs are available, HIV is no longer an issue for women in the UK. If only it were so straightforward. Click here
10. PERSONAL STORIES FROM WOMEN FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. You can read some of these in the newsletters produced by ICW at www.icw.org and can view some women talking about their experiences and what they have done with their lives since their diagnosis by following “video” links on the ICW website. Click here. Hear also some moving and powerful audio interviews from around the world, about issues facing women in relation to HIV and motherhood:Click here.
    
11. YWCA England and Wales report: YCW England and Wales carried out research and produced a report called “It's a sex thing”. The research explores the positive aspects of young women becoming sexually active, as well as safe sex and sexual health.  Click here
12. UK NATIONAL AIDS TRUST SURVEY 2007, conducted by Ipsos-Mori reveals that 90% of British people do not understand fully how HIV is transmitted and that public understanding has declined over the past seven years.  click here