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A new study by the South African Medical Research Council’s Gender and Health Group claims to offer conclusive evidence of links between gender-based power inequalities and women’s risk of HIV infection.
The study, conducted among 1,395 pregnant women in Johannesburg's Soweto township, shows that women who experience violence by intimate partners had a 50 percent higher risk of being infected with HIV.
In in a recent statement, the MRC's Gender and Health Group director, Rachel Jewkes, said: "While it's often said that women who experience violence from their male partners find it harder to negotiate condom use, our findings suggest that this is likely to be just part of the connection between violence and HIV/AIDS."
The report also noted that reducing gender inequalities and making men more respectful of women were critical to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic, as well as building a society in which women could enjoy the right to live free from violence.
The full report is available from the MRC on Tel: 27 12 339 8525 / Cell: 27 82 442-3655
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
