World AIDS Day

December 1st was established as World AIDS day in 1988 in order to raise awareness, education, and to fight prejudice. AIDS continues to be an urgent issue, and there are still many things to be done to stop the pandemic worldwide.

In 2004, this important day will focus on reducing the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV. Women are the focus this year because gender inequality fuels the AIDS epidemic worldwide. Women across the globe do not have the same rights and access to employment, property, and education as men. As a result, women and girls are becoming infected with HIV at a faster rate than men and boys.

Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the United Nations, has said that “AIDS has a woman’s face.” Women now comprise 50% of those who have contracted the HIV virus, and in Africa that figure is 58%. A recent report released by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS states that two-thirds of those who are newly infected in developing countries are between the ages of 15-24, and of that group, 64% are female.

HIV/AIDS infection rates are increasing at an alarming rate among young women in Africa and Asia, particularly among monogamous, married women. Whether through rape, abuse in and out of the home, or as targets in civil war, women bear the brunt of violence worldwide and as a result are more susceptible to contracting HIV/AIDS.

AIDS is also very much a local issue. The Bush administration wants to spend millions of dollars on abstinence-only sex education that puts teenagers at higher risk for HIV/AIDS. In the U.S. HIV infection rates are steadily growing, as is the case around the world. In the U.S. African-Americans represent only 12% of the population, but 38% of the AIDS cases. Rates of infection have risen dramatically among young African American women in recent years.

Why is World AIDS day so important for women?
It is a day to build awareness around an issue that disproportionately affects women.
In Botswana the AIDS rate for women and girls 15 to 19 is 15.4%. For men and boys it is 1.2%. The rate for 25-29 year old women is 54%, for men it is 29.7%.
In Africa the rate of female infection is 58%, rising to 75% in women between the ages of 15 and 24.
AIDS is the leading cause of death for African American women ages 25-34.

Take Action this December 1st!

Have a “Women and AIDS” drive in a high traffic area on campus (free speech area, student union, etc.) Hand out flyers that include important facts about women and AIDS, and collect donations for an AIDS charity that supports women.

Host a film screening and discussion to foster dialogue about the issue of women and HIV/AIDS. One film you could use for such an event is the documentary, PBS Visionaries: U.S.-Funded International Family Planning and HIV/AIDS Programs in Kenya and India. Call the FMF Global Team (toll free) at 1-866-444-FMLA (3652) to get a copy of this film, or for more examples of films you could screen.

Partner with your campus Health Center staff or an affiliated Health Center student group to hold a women-only information session on reducing the risks of HIV/AIDS
Hand out condoms in a high traffic area on campus with informational flyers about the effects of the global AIDS pandemic in the U.S.

Check out http://www.avert.org/women.htm as well as the Campaign for Women’s Lives website for more information on women and AIDS. If you are interested in getting Campaign for Women’s Lives posters, door hangers, or fliers contact the FMF Campus Team (toll free) 1-866-444-FMLA (3652) or email campusteam@feminist.org

Send a World AIDS Day ecard to your friends and family!

http://www.feministcampus.org/know/global/world_aids_day.asp