What is meant by “gender and HIV”?
Gender is a social construct that defines how a girl and boy should behave. In countries where young people account for a high proportion of all new infection, HIV positive young women may outnumber their seropositive male peers by as much as six times (UNAIDS). Therefore, addressing gender roles and power dynamics between women and men, and how they impact on sexual relations and decision-making, is critical for effective prevention. Girls and women are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV. Their physiological susceptibility, at least 2 to 4 times greater than men’s is further increased by social, cultural, economic and legal forms of discrimination.
Gender is a social construct that defines how a girl and boy should behave. In countries where young people account for a high proportion of all new infection, HIV positive young women may outnumber their seropositive male peers by as much as six times (UNAIDS). Therefore, addressing gender roles and power dynamics between women and men, and how they impact on sexual relations and decision-making, is critical for effective prevention. Girls and women are disproportionately vulnerable to HIV. Their physiological susceptibility, at least 2 to 4 times greater than men’s is further increased by social, cultural, economic and legal forms of discrimination.
