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Rights abuses fuel female HIV infection

    JOHANNESBURG
    Women throughout Kenya lose their homes, land, and other property due to discriminatory laws and customs, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report released on Tuesday. The rights group says widows are forced to engage in risky sexual practices like "wife inheritance" in order to keep their property. "Women’s property rights violations are not only discriminatory, they may also prove deadly," executive director of the HRW Women’s Rights Division, LaShawn Jefferson, said in a statement. HRW said the violations and their impact are magnified by Kenya's high HIV/AIDS prevalence. UNAIDS estimates that 15 percent of the country's adults are infected with HIV/AIDS. To access the full report: http://hrw.org/reports/2003/kenya0303/

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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