Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Services (SAFAIDS) recently published a report analyzing the relationship between culture, women’s rights and HIV/AIDS in Africa, finding that the epidemic is impacting significantly more women than men on the continent. Findings indicate that 60 percent of HIV positive adults in Africa are women, a fact largely attributed to “women’s lower socio-economic, political and cultural status,” as AllAfrica news reports.

The correlation between an absence of women’s rights and the prevalence of HIV/AIDS has been widely acknowledged, yet the report maintains that little has been done to address the direct causation of the two issues. In an effort to create culturally relevant materials, SAFAIDS has distributed a casebook documenting the best practices of six Zimbabwean communities, intending to “help mitigate the HIV crisis through a cultural and gender perspective.”

There is a call for a concerted effort of gender-focused policies to address HIV/AIDS and there is much work to be done, as noted in the SAFAIDS report:

“While it is universally understood and accepted that traditional and cultural ideologies and practices that promote male dominance and the marginalization of women are key drivers of the epidemic in Africa, not much is known about how to effectively address those practices in a way that will increase gender equality and reduce vulnerability to HIV for African women.”

International AIDS charity Avert relates the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa to a paralysis or even regression of human rights:

“Two-thirds of all people living with HIV are found in sub-Saharan Africa, although this region contains little more than 10 percent of the world’s population. Through its impact on the labor force, households and enterprises, AIDS has played a more significant role in the reversal of human development than any other single factor.”

Africa: On Continent, Aids Has a Female Face-AllAfrica News

HIV & AIDS Statistics - Avert