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The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) on Wednesday said inequality, poverty, and lack of power and education were some of the reasons why 58 percent of African women were living with HIV/AIDS.
UNIFEM executive director, Noeleen Heyzer, said many women could not protect themselves against HIV/AIDS because they lacked the power to do so.
She said living in violent societies, where they were often not allowed to talk about sex, had left women especially vulnerable to HIV infection.
The Washington Post quoted Heyzer as saying, "There is a link between violence and the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly in conflict and refugee situations in which women are subjected to untold rapes and sexual assaults."
Heyzer said she hoped US President George W Bush would "take the time to speak with African women infected and affected by HIV and AIDS" on his current visit to Africa.
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