Breaking the Cycle: Ensuring Equitable Access to HIV Treatment for Women and Girls

This report states that a gendered approach to HIV/AIDS treatment initiatives in resource-poor countries is necessary to address the gender inequities that make women and girls particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV/AIDS. The author begins by providing recommendations to make US policy towards HIV/AIDS more gender conscious. She then discusses the gendered dimensions of the disease, stating that "the AIDS crisis is fueled by women's social, economic, and biological vulnerabilities". The author emphasizes that the rising infection rate amongst females is in large part due to widespread human rights violations such as rape, sexual violence and coercion, cross-generational sex, income dependency, discriminatory access to education, health care, and property and inheritance rights. The document ends with a discussion on mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) programs and antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, focusing on the promising developments of ARV programs in Botswana and South Africa. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - HIV/AIDS, International]