Women and girls

A new report by UNAIDS demonstrates the critical role communities play, and how underfunding and harmful barriers are holding back their lifesaving work and obstructing the end of AIDS.

LONDON/GENEVA, 28 November 2023—As World AIDS Day (1 December) approaches, UNAIDS is urging governments across the world to unleash the power of grassroots communities across the world to lead the fight to end AIDS. A new report launched today by UNAIDS, Let Communities Lead, shows that AIDS can be ended as a public health threat by 2030, but only if communities on the frontlines get the full support they need from governments and donors.

“Communities across the world have shown that they are ready, willing and able to lead the way. But they need the barriers obstructing their work to be pulled down, and they need to be properly resourced,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Too often, communities are treated by decision-makers as problems to be managed, instead of being recognised and supported as leaders. Communities are not in the way, they light the way to the end of AIDS.”

The report, launched in London during a World AIDS Day event organized by the civil society organization STOPAIDS, shows how communities have been the driving force for progress.

Community advocacy from the streets to the courtrooms to parliaments has secured groundbreaking changes in policy. Communities’ campaigning helped open up access to generic HIV medicines, leading to sharp, sustained reductions in the cost of treatment from US$ 25 000 per person per year in 1995 to less than US$ 70 in many countries most affected by HIV today.

Let Communities Lead shows that investing in community-led HIV programmes delivers transformational benefits. It sets out how programmes delivered by community-based organizations in Nigeria were associated with a 64% increase in access to HIV treatment, a doubling of the likelihood of HIV prevention service utilization, and a four-fold increase in consistent condom use among people at risk of HIV. It also notes how, among sex workers reached by a package of peer-based services in the United Republic of Tanzania, the HIV incidence rate was reduced to below half (5% vs 10.4%).

“We are the vehicle for change that can end systematic injustices that continue to fuel HIV transmission. We have seen groundbreaking developments with U=U, improved access to medicines, and have made great strides in decriminalisation," said Robbie Lawlor, Co-Founder of Access to Medicines Ireland. “Yet, we are expected to move mountains without being financially supported. We are supposed to fight for a more equitable world and are tasked with dismantling stigma yet are side-lined in crucial discussions. We are at a tipping point. Communities can no longer be relegated to the periphery. The time for leadership is now.”

The report highlights how communities are at the forefront of innovation. In Windhoek, Namibia, a self-funded project by the youth Empowerment Group is using e-bikes to deliver HIV medicines, food and adherence support to young people who often cannot attend clinics due to their schooling hours. In China, community organizations developed smartphone apps that link people to self-testing which contributed to a more than four-fold increase in HIV tests across the country from 2009 to 2020.

The report reveals how communities are also holding service providers to account. In South Africa five community networks of people living with HIV inspected 400 sites across 29 districts and conducted more than 33 000 interviews with people living with HIV. In the Free State province, these findings led provincial health officials to implement new appointment protocols to reduce clinic wait times and three- and six-month dispensing of antiretroviral medicines.

“I am extremely concerned about the exclusion from health services of key populations like the LGBT+ community,” said Andrew Mitchell, Minister of State for Development and Africa. “The UK champions the rights of such communities, and we will continue to protect them, working closely with our partners in civil society. I thank UNAIDS for keeping us focused on the inequities driving the pandemic and I look forward to working with our partners to champion the voice of people living with HIV and end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.”

Despite the clear evidence of community-led impact, community-led responses are unrecognized, under-resourced and in some places even under attack. Crackdowns on civil society and on the human rights of marginalized communities are obstructing communities from providing HIV prevention and treatment services. Underfunding of community-led initiatives is leaving them struggling to continue operating and holding them back from expansion. If these obstacles are removed, community-led organizations can add even greater impetus to end AIDS.

In the 2021 Political Declaration on ending AIDS, United Nations member states recognized the critical role communities play in HIV service delivery, particularly to people most at risk of HIV. However, whereas in 2012, when over 31% of HIV funding was channelled through civil society organizations, ten years later, in 2021, only 20% of funding for HIV was available—an unprecedented backsliding in commitments which has cost and is continuing to cost lives.

“At this time, community-led action is the most important countermeasure in the AIDS response,” said Solange Baptiste, Executive Director of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition. “Yet, shockingly, it isn’t a cornerstone of global plans, agendas, strategies, or financing mechanisms for improving pandemic preparedness and health for all. It is time to change that.”

Every minute, a life is lost to AIDS. Every week, 4000 girls and young women become infected with HIV, and out of the 39 million people living with HIV, 9.2 million do not have access to lifesaving treatment. There is a Path that Ends AIDS and AIDS can be ended by 2030, but only if communities lead.

UNAIDS is calling for: Communities’ leadership roles to be made core in all HIV plans and programmes; Communities’ leadership roles to be fully and reliably funded; And for barriers to communities’ leadership roles to be removed.

The report features nine guest essays from community leaders, in which they share their experience on the achievements they have secured, the barriers they face, and what the world needs to end AIDS as a public health threat.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 21 September 2023—UNAIDS has designated the First Lady of Botswana, Neo Jane Masisi, as a UNAIDS champion for the empowerment and engagement of adolescent girls and young women. UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, confirmed the appointment during a meeting with Mrs Masisi during the 78^th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“Her Excellency Mrs Masisi has a deep understanding of the structural barriers that are making adolescent girls and young women so vulnerable to HIV infection in Botswana and right across Africa,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. “Mrs Masisi is a fierce advocate for the rights of young women and girls and for the need to support them to stay in school, finish their education and receive the knowledge they need to help them thrive.”

Mrs Masisi has already been working closely with UNAIDS for several years as an advocate for young people. In her new role, Mrs Masisi will champion Education Plus, an initiative launched by UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women to prevent HIV infections through free universal, quality secondary education for all girls and boys in Africa, reinforced through comprehensive empowerment programmes. Botswana joined the initiative in June.

In Botswana, young girls aged 15-19 years old are seven times more likely to become infected with HIV than their male counterparts. During the meeting the First Lady said that surveys showed that between 2015 and 2019 young women and girls accounted for 36% of all new infections in Botswana and 19 are boys and 43 girls become infected every week.    

“I will be serving with this special title at a crucial moment. The SDGs are just around the corner and it is the last sprint to end AIDS by 2030,” said Mrs Masisi. “We will be discussing some hard issues to protect our children and young people. But the good thing about our communities today is that they realise that these are not ordinary times, and they know that doors that were closed, mouths that were sealed—its time they were opened. I remain resolute in directing energies to supporting young people in my country.”

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 19 September 2023—UNAIDS has named the First Lady of Sierra Leone, Fatima Maada Bio, as a UNAIDS champion for the empowerment and engagement of adolescent girls and young women in Sierra Leone. UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima, confirmed the appointment during a meeting with Mrs Maada Bio and her husband President Julius Maada Bio at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly taking place in New York.

“I am delighted to welcome Her Excellency Mrs Fatima Maada Bio to the UNAIDS family as a champion for adolescent girls and young women,” said Ms Byanyima. “The First Lady is a strong advocate for the empowerment of women and girls. I look forward to continuing to work together to end gender inequalities that drive HIV including sexual and gender-based violence, and to ensuring that our girls and young women have all the information and knowledge they need to lead healthy lives.”

Mrs Maada Bio is a leading advocate for the Hands Off Our Girls Campaign, a movement launched by President Maada Bio in December 2018 to ban early child marriage and end sexual violence against women and girls. In 2022, she spearheaded the adoption of the first ever World Day for the Prevention of, and Healing from Child Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Violence, which is commemorated annually on 18 November.

Mrs Maada Bio is also a champion of Education Plus, an initiative launched by UNAIDS, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women to prevent HIV infections through free universal, quality secondary education for all girls and boys in Africa, reinforced through comprehensive empowerment programmes.

“My hope is for a future where all women have equal rights,” said Mrs Maada Bio. “Where women and men can sit at the same table and make decisions together, where women are given the space to lead. That is my hope because then we will know that real equality has arrived for us all.” 

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 13 July 2023—A new report released today by UNAIDS shows that there is a clear path that ends AIDS. This path will also help prepare for and tackle future pandemics and advance progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The report, ‘The Path that Ends AIDS’, contains data and case studies which highlight that ending AIDS is a political and financial choice, and that the countries and leaders who are already following the path are achieving extraordinary results.

Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Zimbabwe have already achieved the “95-95-95” targets. That means 95% of the people who are living with HIV knowing their HIV status, 95% of the people who know that they are living with HIV being on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, and 95% of people who are on treatment being virally suppressed. A further 16 other countries, eight of them in sub-Saharan Africa, the region which accounts for 65% of all people living with HIV, are also close to doing so.

“The end of AIDS is an opportunity for a uniquely powerful legacy for today’s leaders,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “They could be remembered by future generations as those who put a stop to the world’s deadliest pandemic. They could save millions of lives and protect the health of everyone. They could show what leadership can do.”

The report highlights that HIV responses succeed when they are anchored in strong political leadership. This means following the data, science, and evidence; tackling the inequalities holding back progress; enabling communities and civil society organizations in their vital role in the response; and ensuring sufficient and sustainable funding.

Progress has been strongest in the countries and regions that have the most financial investments, such as in eastern and southern Africa where new HIV infections have been reduced by 57% since 2010.

Thanks to support for and investment in ending AIDS among children, 82% of pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV globally were accessing antiretroviral treatment in 2022, up from 46% in 2010. This has led to a 58% reduction in new HIV infections among children from 2010 to 2022, the lowest number since the 1980’s.

Progress in the HIV response has been strengthened by ensuring that legal and policy frameworks do not undermine human rights, but enable and protect them. Several countries removed harmful laws in 2022 and 2023, including five (Antigua and Barbuda, the Cook Islands, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Singapore) that have decriminalized same-sex sexual relations.

The number of people on antiretroviral treatment worldwide rose almost fourfold, from 7.7 million in 2010 to 29.8 million in 2022.

However, the report also sets out that ending AIDS will not come automatically. AIDS claimed a life every minute in 2022. Around 9.2 million people still miss out on treatment, including 660 000 children living with HIV.

Women and girls are still disproportionately affected, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, 4,000 young women and girls became infected with HIV every week in 2022. Only 42% of districts with HIV incidence over 0.3% in sub-Saharan Africa are currently covered with dedicated HIV prevention programmes for adolescent girls and young women.

Almost one quarter (23%) of new HIV infections were in Asia and the Pacific where new infections are rising alarmingly in some countries. Steep increases in new infections are continuing in eastern Europe and central Asia (a rise of 49% since 2010) and in the Middle East and North Africa (a rise of 61% since 2010). These trends are due primarily to a lack of HIV prevention services for marginalized and key populations and the barriers posed by punitive laws and social discrimination.

Funding for HIV also declined in 2022 from both international and domestic sources, falling back to the same level as in 2013. Funding amounted to US$ 20.8 billion in 2022, far short of the US$ 29.3 billion needed by 2025.

There is an opportunity now to end AIDS by increasing political will by investing in a sustainable response to HIV through financing what matters most: evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment, health systems integration, non- discriminatory laws, gender equality, and empowered community networks.

“We are hopeful, but it is not the relaxed optimism that might come if all was heading as it should be. It is, instead, a hope rooted in seeing the opportunity for success, an opportunity that is dependent on action,” said Ms Byanyima. “The facts and figures shared in this report do not show that as a world we are already on the path, they show that we can be. The way is clear.”

In 2022, an estimated:

• 39.0 million people globally were living with HIV
• 29.8 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy
• 1.3 million people became newly infected with HIV
• 630 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

At Refuge des Femmes d'Haiti, a small women's community-based organization in the commune of Croix-des-Bouquets, Port-au-Prince, Martha Norcimè, a 34-year-old pregnant woman from the nearby commune of Delmas, completes her training in sewing and macramé—a form of textile produced using knotting techniques.

She is part of a group of vulnerable women deeply affected by the gang violence and warfare that has impacted several areas of the capital since early 2022. Most of her peers came from Croix-de-Bouquets. All of them—including women with HIV—living in challenging circumstances, who have seen their livelihood completely disappear throughout these past two years as violence rose.

"I will soon give birth to my first child. I used to sell food and cleaning products that I was buying on the Haitian-Dominican border between Jimani and Malpasse, and I was then selling in markets in the city and in my neighborhood,” recalls Martha. “But I could no longer continue, given the blockade of the North city entry controlled by armed gangs. So many women traders are raped, kidnapped, or robbed by them."

In the fall of 2022, a joint UN project coordinated by the UNAIDS Country Office in Haiti, with participation from UNFPA, UNDP, and UNICEF, has been launched in partnership with Refuge des Femmes d’Haiti and with the support of FOSREF, a Haitian non-governmental organization. The goal is to support women and girls living this daily reality by empowering and giving them the tools to remain healthy and overcome the feminization of HIV in Haiti.

Haiti’s significant gains made over the past decade in controlling its HIV epidemic are now under threat, particularly in the capital, where a third of the 11.8 million Haitians reside. The brunt of an ongoing socio-economic and security crisis triggered by the assassination of former President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021 is borne by adolescent girls, young and adult women.

The feminization of HIV has long been a feature of the Haiti pandemic with HIV prevalence for females at 2.3%, compared to 1.6% among men. Still, the continuing multi-faced and profound crisis, fueled by such levels of violence, is exposing thousands of women to HIV infection.

In October 2022, a joint human rights report published by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), entitled Sexual violence in Port-au-Prince: a weapon used by gangs to instill fear denounced collective rape by gangs in the capital as a weapon of war. In May 2023, research conducted by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime in Cité-Soleil, another impoverished commune in Port-au-Prince deeply hit by gang activity, found that 80% of the women and girls who participated in the study had been victims of one or more forms of gender-based violence by one or multiple perpetrators.

"We work closely with UN Agencies to support women, victims of violence, make them financially independent and thus reduce the feminization of HIV, sexual and gender-based violence and maternal and neonatal mortality," says Novia Augustin, President of Ref-Haiti, and of the Federation of Women Organizations for the Equality and Human Rights (FEDOFEDH). "Difficulties are several, but the biggest is insecurity and the lack of financial resources. My motivation comes from our results: When I look at the satisfaction on the faces of the women we have accompanied, the recognition they show, I tell myself that it is worth it, despite all the difficulties encountered and the risks incurred."

Martha recalls how Novia opened the door to her for intensive training every day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. At the time, she was already pregnant. And despite the pregnancy-related fatigue, she did not miss a single day of class. “I can sew skirts, bonnets, blouses and even sandals!" she says proudly. "But I can't do anything now because of this crisis. Sometimes I even miss my pre-natal appointments with the doctor just because I am afraid to go out."

Besides training, Ref-Haiti also included discussions  on HIV risk and prevention, gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, family planning, and cholera. The awareness-raising activities targeted women beneficiaries and hundreds of young girls of other affected communes.

"We are working to support an integrated health response for women and girls so severely affected by gang violence and by socio-economic inequality”, says Christian Mouala, UNAIDS Country Director for Haiti. “We are proud of women-led local organizations such as Refuge des Femmes and their immeasurable efforts to support women to overcome the challenges they face."

All photos by UNDP Haiti

My name is Naadu Awuradwoa Addico and I work as a Project Officer at Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG). On 24 May, I participated in a Ministerial meeting organized by the Global HIV Prevention Coalition titled High-Level Dialogue on accelerating HIV prevention and preparing for future pandemics.

In that meeting I shared the story of Abena, a young woman from Ghana who, at age 19, contracted HIV from a 40-year-old man who coerced her into transactional sex with the promise to fund her high school fees.

While I avoid the obvious details, I ask: What if Abena was empowered to negotiate for safer sex? What if she had access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)? What if she lived in a community with robust social support systems that catered for her needs?

You see, these are some of the reasons why HIV prevention cannot wait!

Many adolescent girls like Abena face poverty, disability, marginalization, discrimination and exploitation. These factors perpetuate HIV transmission and hinder an effective response to AIDS. Just last year, an adolescent girl or young woman acquired HIV every two minutes.

This is beyond alarming!

Policies and laws must allow girls to not only access HIV prevention services like PrEP, but also to complete their education regardless of their background and circumstances. Abena need not have paid such a heavy price to get the support she needed for her schooling.

In reference to the popular saying ‘teamwork makes the dream work’, young women and girls have a crucial part to play on this journey of ending AIDS. So, I appealed to Governments in the meeting as well as global leaders, donors and all stakeholders to provide resources and commit to ensuring girls like Abena can have equal access to knowledge, support and safe spaces to remain HIV free.

When you are developing and implementing HIV prevention programmes for young people and making critical decisions about our health and well-being, let our voices be heard and echoed. We want to work with you.

Nirmala Singh (not her real name) found out she was HIV positive after being tested during pregnancy. It was a surprise diagnosis, but she immediately knew how she had been infected. Before getting married she was raped. Nurses informed Nirmala’s husband of her positive result without her consent. She was immediately kicked out the home.

Sita Shahi, Regional Coordinator of the International Community of Women Living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific (ICWAP), has responded to this and many similar cases in her native Nepal.

“There is very little understanding of the rights of women living with HIV and how their experience is impacted by abuse,” Ms Shahi said. “Women are blamed for transmitting HIV because they are usually first in the family to be diagnosed. That is the starting point for them to experience human rights violations like intimate partner violence in the home and gender-based violence in the wider society.”

At a UNAIDS-supported ICWAP workshop organized in 2022 with participants from countries across the region, women living with HIV shared their personal stories.

One participant who was diagnosed during pregnancy was refused care by staff during childbirth. She delivered her baby on the floor of her ward, alone.

Some who have survived domestic violence said they were rejected by shelters run by government and non-governmental organisations based on their HIV status.

And there was consensus that in all countries domestic violence is common, but rarely reported.

The concerns of women living with HIV in the Asia Pacific region have remained relatively hidden and ignored. Rates of new infections and AIDS-related deaths among men in the region are more than double those of women. But for the estimated 2.2 million women living with HIV in Asia and the Pacific, smaller numbers do not mean smaller problems.

“Women in Asia and the Pacific continue to face discriminatory policies, social and cultural barriers, inequalities in healthcare access and threats to their security that violate their rights,” said UNAIDS’ Regional Adviser for Community-Led Responses, Michela Polesana.

“When women are free of any kind of stigma and discrimination, gender-based violence or breach of confidentiality by healthcare providers there is no accusing epidemic,” Ms Shahi reflected. “If a woman is free of violence at the policy level, society level and family level she can be mentally strong and her health could be as well as other people’s. Then there is no problem taking care of herself and her family while contributing to the economy.”

As a regional network, ICWAP is working to increase the capacity of organisations for and by women living with HIV so they can advocate around these issues at national level. A key priority is giving stakeholders including healthcare providers the information they need to help uphold the rights of women living with HIV.

One critical element of this strategy has been equipping its membership to advocate effectively using digital tools and spaces. UNAIDS supported social media advocacy training for ICWAP’s Young Advocates Social Media Team. Through the eight-week process, participants were introduced to social media basics, explored sexual and reproductive health and rights issues and practiced skills such as interviewing, blogging and editing.

“We embrace the role of technology in not only providing a space for community-building and psychosocial support for women living with HIV, but also the means to speak out about issues that affect them,” Ms. Polesana said.

To empower women living with HIV to meaningfully engage in decision-making spaces, ICWAP also held a feminist movement building training for women-led networks from six countries. This exercise built the capacity of women living with HIV to engage in programmes that promote gender equality and human rights and to lead advocacy efforts for high quality life-saving services for women and girls across the region.

On International Women’s Day 2023 under the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, ICWAP called for the following:

• User-friendly digital platforms  
• Access to the internet and digital tools
• Capacity building around social media advocacy
• Strengthened data security and redress mechanisms
• Online reporting mechanisms and rapid response for intimate partner violence
• Strategies to increase the economic empowerment of women living with HIV

GENEVA, 20 December 2022—UNAIDS welcomes the judgement by the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi recognizing that coerced sterilization of women living with HIV is a violation of their human rights.  

The judgement follows a case brought forward in 2014 by a Kenyan woman living with HIV who was coerced by professionals at a health facility to undergo tubal ligation thus taking away her ability to have children. The High Court found that the performance of this operation without consent amounted to a violation of her rights to non-discrimination, to dignity, to health and to family.  

“This decision is an important step in protecting the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “UNAIDS stands ready to work with all governments to ensure such practices are eliminated completely and that women living with HIV are able to access health services without stigma or discrimination.” 

UNAIDS intervened in this case with an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief that informed the Kenyan High Court on the health guidelines and human rights standards that each country must follow to respect, protect and guarantee the human rights of people living with HIV, and the impact that such involuntary practices can have on the HIV response. The Kenyan Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV/AIDS (KELIN) and the African Gender and Media Initiatives Trust (GEM) were also petitioners in this case.  

HIV-related stigma and discrimination has a significant impact on the health, lives and well-being of people living with or at risk of HIV. Stigma and discrimination hinders the HIV response by limiting access to broader sexual and reproductive health and other health services. UNAIDS continues to work daily to ensure that governments invest in preventing and responding to violations linked to the forms of intersectional discrimination to which people living with HIV have been subjected. 

The plaintiff in the case stated, “This was never about the money. I wanted to fight for justice for myself and all women who have had this experience, and to ensure this does not happen to other women who are living with HIV who need access to reproductive health services.”  

“This case is an important moment for reproductive justice and the feminist movement. Coercive sterilization of women living with HIV is a violation of women’s most fundamental human rights and undermines effective HIV responses,” said UNAIDS Country Director for Kenya, Medhin Tsehaiu. “It is only through a human rights approach that we will end AIDS as a public health threat.” 

A rights-based approach includes the right to start a family and have children, the right to decide the number and spacing of their children, the right to reproductive autonomy and the right to access quality services to support their reproductive health choices, based on their informed, safe and voluntary consent. These are fundamental human rights that belong to all women, regardless of HIV status, and are guaranteed in global and regional treaties.  

“We welcome the court’s decision and although it took a long time, we are happy that the court found the client’s rights had been violated, and particularly the finding of discrimination on the basis of sex and HIV status,” said Allan Maleche, Executive Director, KELIN. 

The Global AIDS Strategy 2021–2026: End Inequalities, End AIDS includes a central role for the promotion of human rights, gender equality and dignity, free from stigma and discrimination for all people living with and affected by HIV. It is a commitment by UNAIDS to an ambitious vision to end gender inequalities and realize human rights, including the right to health, calling on all partners and stakeholders in the HIV response in all countries to transform unequal gender norms and end stigma and discrimination.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.