Inter Press Service - Wednesday, March 3, 1999
Thalif Deen

"This is one of the most insidious aspects of the AIDS epidemic," said Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Geneva-based UN body which coordinates the global fight against the deadly disease.

Addressing a panel discussion on women and health, Piot said Wednesday that violence against women is contributing to "the merciless spread" of Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). "It is only now beginning to receive the international recognition it deserves."

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that violence against women causes more death and disability in the 15-44 age group than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and even war.

Piot pointed out that domestic violence, rape and other forms of sexual abuse were gross violations of human rights. They also were closely linked to some of today's most intractable health issues, including the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that caused AIDS, he said.

"Violence against women is not just a cause of the AIDS epidemic. It can also be a consequence of it," Piot said.

Currently, there were an estimated 33 million people throughout the world living with HIV or AIDS - nearly 14 million of them women. Of those whose infection status became known to others, many suffered direct violence at the hands of their husband, family or community.

Piot singled out the case of a South African woman - Gugu Dlamini - who was ruthlessly murdered by neighbours soon after she revealed her HIV status when her country marked World AIDS Day.

In South Africa, there were reports of roving gangs of young men, many infected with HIV, who engaged in what was called "catch and rape." Piot said that similar situations have arisen in the West Indies, where gangs have been assaulting women and girls as part of initiation ceremonies.

In Papua New Guinea, 40 percent of rape victims were girls under the age of 15. AIDS also was spread through marital rape, trafficking of women (for sexual violence) and rapes relating to war crimes. "Only recently has rape in marriage been made a criminal offence in some Western countries," Piot said.

The International Criminal Court, currently in the process of being established, would recognise rape and other forms of violence against women in time of war as a crime against humanity.

Recent studies suggested that between 16 percent and 52 percent of women were physically assaulted by an intimate partner at least once in their lives, according to Piot. This kind of assault often was associated with sexual violence, including rape.

In the United States, for example, a woman was assaulted - usually by her husband - every fifteen seconds. In India, one study suggested that between 18 percent and 45 percent of married men acknowledged abusing their wives.

Addressing the UN Commission on the Status of Women earlier this week, Souad Abdennebi of the Economic Commission for Africa, said that one of the major concerns of the African continent was the alarming increase in HIV/AIDS and its impact on the social and cultural fabrics, as well as on the economic productivity of the people.

In the developing world, adult mortality from HIV/AIDS was projected to reach about 40 percent by the year 2000. More than half the adolescents in the developing world today would die before reaching the age of 60. Abdennebi said women, the most powerless, were the hardest hit by AIDS.

The Platform for Action adopted at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing specifically called for "the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls."

As a result, the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) has established a special Trust Fund, originally proposed by Japan, to support national, regional and international actions to eliminate gender-based violence.

"The international community has recognized that the scourge of violence against women is a phenomenon which must be eliminated worldwide," said UNIFEM Director Noeleen Heyzer.

The Fund would provide assistance to raise awareness among men, women and youth on the issue of violence against women and help build institutional capacity to respond to the effects of gender- based violence.

This would include support for education systems, legislative reform, fair administration of justice, and victims assistance programmes, Heyzer said. (END/IPS/td/mk/99)
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