Today is World AIDS Day. Take Back The Tech’s Day 7 action reminds us of the specific impacts that HIV/AIDS has on women’s lives:
“Women are often the first member of the household to discover their status through testing during pregnancy, and as such, can result in blame by partners or members of their family. Such blame can catalyze violence in the family, rejection, and tolerance to the partner in seeking other sexual partners. Women living with HIV/AIDS who hold primary responsibility in supporting their families may be unwilling to continue treatment to be able to continue to receive State-based grants based on their HIV status.
Violence against women affects women living with HIV/AIDS in particular ways. Marital rape and child sexual abuse can directly contribute to the spread of the disease. Situations of domestic violence also mean that women have little power to negotiate for safer sex through condom use. These are often silent and hidden crimes, where survivors have to overcome various barriers from shame and stigma to lack of legal recourse before being able to confront the possibility of infection and to manage treatment.”
Be sure to also click the Take Back The Tech icon in the column next to this post to learn about other actions you can take today and every day during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence .
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