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“Women’s rights are human rights”
Alright…Welcome back to Girls’ and Women’s Sexual Health…Part 2. Hopefully, you walked along with us through Part 1…and now, you’re here again to feed on Part 2.
Without wasting much time, the entire team is saying a huge “THANK YOU” for being a part of our journey up till this point. We are so grateful and look forward to having you around more often.
Once again, enjoy your reading!
“Health is Wealth”
Although getting infected with AIDS is usually beyond a woman’s control, bound as she is by social and economic barriers, once she contracts this disease, she will likely have little or no access to reliable healthcare, stigma and discrimination against her may likely increase, and the poverty in which she lives in will deepen as her health gets worse.
“The prevalence of HIV/AIDS reveals deeply ingrained inequalities in our societies…”
The effect on adolescent girls is greater; not only are their infection rates rising but as more women die as a result of contracting the disease, girls lose their mothers who may have served as their role models during adolescence, a challenging experience under most circumstances.
“Lack of basic education and sexual knowledge also maintains the power imbalance between women and men”
HIV/AIDS embodies more than any other disease the intersection of health and human rights. It is not just a disease. It is also a symbol and symptom of an unfair world, where young and poor girls and women are deprived of control over their choices, lives and their bodies, and; once infected by the virus, left to die (typical of traffickers and trafficked victims).
“Without basic education, women have no hopes of pulling themselves out of poverty”
Moreover, social factors such as unequal access to education to a very large extent, contribute to the higher rates of HIV transmission in young girls, since their access to information is limited. Lack of education and limited employment opportunities also play a role in reducing adolescents’ choices.
On the other hand and on a sad note….AIDS doesn’t just kill the infected people only; it also kills educational opportunities for girls, even when they are not infected by the virus. The weight or burden on a girl whose sick relatives rely on her for care can interfere in or eliminate the girl’s ability to continue her schooling.
“Knowledge is Power”
Although, education ought to be an escape route for these young women, offering them hope of an independent future and more control over their lives, especially in terms of sex, there’s a disproportionate number of girls in school compared to their male counterparts and this makes the situation more appalling.
To Be Continued in Part 3…Stay Tuned!
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