Poverty and HIV/AIDS

Posted: 17 June 2005

Why is the HIV/AIDS infection rate so high in southern Africa, and why are women and girls shouldering such a heavy burden of suffering?

Poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic are converging with deadly results. Lack of education and ignorance about the disease, a high percentage of female-headed households with few reliable sources of income, lack of jobs, poor access to medical care, and many other manifestations of poverty all put women, the poorest members of southern African society, at a greater risk to exposure to HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS crisis hits women the hardest.

Gender inequalities that are deeply rooted in culture and society constrain opportunities for women in southern Africa and increase poverty. Women are relegated to household responsibilities, denied education, and struggle to find decent jobs. There is a high rate of female-headed households in southern Africa, and women are routinely called upon to care for sick family members in addition to securing food and income. The epidemic imposes high costs for health care and burial expenses, a further drain on women-headed, low-income households.

In some countries, women are subjected to unfair legal standards for divorce, and lack the right to inherit property. Some are even denied the rights of majority—they are treated as children before the law. This diminishes their power to control relationships with men and their sexual activity.

African society has strong traditions. However, some aspects of culture, religious beliefs, and traditional practices make women more vulnerable to infection, and discourage them from learning about and defending their rights and demanding social change.

Poverty and discrimination against women also intersect when women suffer domestic and sexual violence. The lower social status of women and girls make them easy targets for rape, and limit their ability to cope with violent households. The death of one or both parents can be catastrophic for their children—girls are particularly vulnerable to exploitative sexual relationships. Women and young girls pushed into relationships built on unequal power relationships are hard pressed to negotiate their sexual activity. They are prone to abuse, exploitation, and infection.

As long as women are considered inferior, and society assigns them lesser rights and allows them to be abused and discriminated against, they will continue to suffer the brunt of HIV/AIDS.