A ground-breaking report available on Gender-Based Violence and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa

This report entitled, At The Crossroads: Linking Strategic Frameworks to Address Gender-Based Violence and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, has been written by Helene Combrinck & Lorenzo Wakefield.

According to statistics released by UNAIDS & WHO in 2007, southern Africa is still “the global epicentre of the AIDS pandemic”, with national adult HIV prevalence equaling or exceeding 15% in nine countries here. The subregion accounts for 35% of all people living with HIV globally in 2007 and almost one third (32%) of all new HIV infections and AIDS deaths.

It is now generally accepted that the intersections between gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS are among the most significant of the gendered dimensions of this pandemic. It is noteworthy that the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women devoted her 2005 thematic report to these intersections. She observed that while some progress is being made separately on ending violence against women and on stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS, national and international efforts would be vastly more effective if they addressed the interconnectness between the two pandemics.