Gender inequality and violence as critical enablers in the HIV response

How can interventions more effectively tackle women’s and girls’ vulnerability to HIV? In this presentation, given to mark World AIDS Day at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, STRIVE Research Director Professor Charlotte Watts introduces key structural drivers affecting women and girls, such as: poverty and transactional sex - young girls have sex with older men to access resources, seeding HIV into younger age groups; gender inequality and violence - women have difficulty negotiating sex or condom use when economically dependent on partner and fear violence; limited livelihood opportunities - such as women’s economic dependence on their partner; labour migration and separation of families; stigma and discrimination - prevents those most vulnerable to HIV from accessing or supporting HIV programmes.

The presentation offers examples of two interventions designed to tackle multiple drivers of HIV risk among women and girls, combining economic and community mobilisation components.