Gender Issues

Gender issues should inform HIV advocacy at every level. Gender inequalities - reflected in socioeconomic status, traditional gender roles, and domestic violence - can prevent women living with HIV from accessing adequate care and maintaining their well-being. HIV also disproportionately affects those who do not conform to traditional gender norms; transgender persons face substantial barriers to care and prevention due to stigma, discrimination, and the threat of violence.

This HIV Policy Resource Bank category includes materials that discuss and analyze gender issues and HIV, including gender and gender identity discrimination, health care access, domestic violence, sex work, harm re- duction, and reproductive health.

Highlighted Resources

Gender Issues

Gender, Sexuality, Rights and HIV: An overview for community sector organizations, International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (2007)

Engaging Men and Boys in Changing Gender-Based Inequity in Health: Evidence from Programme Interventions, World Health Organization (2007)

Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equity: Essential Goals for Saving Women’s Lives, World Health Organization (2008)

International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS Vision Paper #1, HIV Positive Young Women (2004)

International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS Vision Paper #2: Access to Care, Treatment, and Support (2004)

Women In Peril - HIV & AIDS - The Rising Toll on Women of Color, A Report of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council (2005)

HIV Prevention in Maternal Health Programming Guide, United Nations Population Fund & EngenderHealth (2004)

Intensifying HIV Prevention: UNAIDS Policy Position Paper (2005)

Saving Lives Now: Female Condoms and the Role of U.S. Foreign Aid, 2008, Center for Health and Gender Equity

Sexual and Reproductive Health of HIV Positive Women and Adolescent Girls: A Dialogue on Rights, Policies and Services (EngenderHealth, Harvard University, ICW, Ipas, UNFPA), (2006)

Perspectives Related to the Potential Use of Vaginal Microbicides Among Drug-Involved Women: Focus Groups in Three Cities in the United States and Puerto Rico, Theresa H. Mason et al., 7 AIDS and Behavior 339 (2003)

Women's Health Insurance Coverage, Kaiser Family Foundation, December 2007

The Johannesburg Statement on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Human Rights (2004)

The Health Care Experiences of Women with HIV/AIDS: Insights from a Focus Group, Henry Kaiser Family Foundation (2003)

Vickie Mayes, PhD., et al, Heterogeneity of Health Disparities Among African American, Hispanic and Asian American Women: Unrecognized Influences of Sexual Orientation, 92 American Journal of Health 632 (April 2002)

Global Networking for AIDS, Law & Human Rights: A Satellite of the XVI International AIDS Conference, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (2006)