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HIV/AIDS programme fails rape victims

    JOHANNESBURG

    Human rights activists on Thursday said mixed messages and government inaction were preventing South African rape victims from accessing drugs that help reduce their chances of HIV infection.

    In a new report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the government had pledged to provide a course of drugs, known as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), to rape victims in April 2002, but had failed to give adequate information or training about the programme to police, health workers, counsellors or victims.

    HRW said the country's HIV/AIDS epidemic had turned sexual assault into a possible death sentence for the victims.

    Rebecca Schleifer, a researcher with HRW's HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Programme, warned that without urgent government action, "the dual epidemics of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence will continue to claim the lives of too many South Africans."

    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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