Title: HIV efforts are failing women and girls.

POPLINE Document Number: 195370

Author(s):

Piot P
Thompson E

Source citation:

Global AIDSLink, 2004 Apr-May;(85):9.

Abstract:

Mrs. Akinyi's husband died of AIDS in 1990. She believes her husband infected her with HIV - he had a history of extramarital affairs. When he died, her in-laws denied her property inheritance. In her words, "Immediately after the burial, I was chased away from home with my children." Mrs. Nyakumabor's husband died of AIDS in 1998, and left her HIV-positive with five children. Her in-laws grabbed household items and took over the house and land she had helped pay for. Soon after her husband's death, Mrs. Nyakumabor's father-in-law called a family meeting, told her to choose an inheritor, and ordered her to be cleansed by having sex with a fisherman. Mrs. Nyakumabor refused, causing an uproar. She now struggles to meet her family's needs, and her slum landlord has threatened to evict her because she cannot always pay rent on time. These women's stories (their names have been changed) are two of the hundreds collected by Human Rights Watch and other organizations, documenting the stripping of property rights in the wake of AIDS among some of the most vulnerable people on earth. (excerpt)

Keywords:

Global
Critique
Women
AIDS Prevention
HIV Prevention
Epidemics
Sex Discrimination
Inequalities
Inheritance
Women's Empowerment
UNAIDS
Demographic Factors
Population
AIDS
HIV Infections
Viral Diseases
Diseases
Social Discrimination
Social Problems
Socioeconomic Factors
Economic Factors
Ownership
Women's Status
UN
International Agencies
Organizations