Miami Herald - March 6, 2005
Fred Tasker, ftasker@herald.com

In theory, the traditional AIDS-fighters' mantra of "ABC" -- abstinence, be faithful, use condoms -- seems sound. In the real world it often doesn't work, and might even be dangerous, a group of women from four continents told South Florida AIDS activists Saturday.

"Latin America has a tradition of machismo," said Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga, 27, of Bolivia. 'In some places, if a woman tried to get her husband to use a condom, he might kill her. He'd say, "You must have a lover.' "

Being faithful didn't help Princess Kasune Zulu, of Zambia, who married at 15 after her parents died of AIDS, and she had five brothers and sisters to support. "I had to get married to survive, to a man twice my age. And he got me infected. It's the story of thousands of girls around the world."

The women, Ross and Zulu plus Frika Chia Iskander, 22, of Indonesia and Michaelle Soliman, 24, of Haiti, were part of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, on a five-city U.S. tour to exchange stories of horror and hope and to seek new ways to stop the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS among women. They're also meeting media executives, legislators, religious leaders and AIDS activists in New York City, Nashville, Chicago and Washington.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

"The purpose of our Global Coalition is to shine a bright light on the very specific problems women and girls face, and to learn what works to fight them," said Dr. Kathleen Cravero, deputy executive director of the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), who led the tour.

"A decade ago, less than one-third of the world's HIV/AIDS patients were women; now it's more than half. In parts of Africa and the Caribbean, 75 percent of the new HIV cases in the 15 to 30 age group are in young women," Cravero said. "It makes young women an endangered species in these areas."

In the United States, women 20 years ago made up only 8 percent of new AIDS cases, by 2003 it was 27 percent. AIDS is now the leading cause of death among black women 25 to 34, with HIV infection rates escalating among Hispanic women, UNAIDS studies say.

On Saturday morning the group toured AIDS facilities at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, and held a roundtable discussion.

"I'm so impressed," Ross said. "To people in South America, this hospital would look like a hotel. But I'm also depressed. In Bolivia, people go to the hospital knowing they're going there to die. They have no drugs to help. Bolivia and the U.S. are so different." Ross, who became HIV-positive after being raped by two men, is an AIDS activist today.

'DIFFERENT PROBLEMS'

"We have different problems here," said Vanessa Mills of Miami, who was treated for HIV at Jackson and went on to establish a local community AIDS-fighting group called Empower U. "Yes, we have powerful drugs. But my best friend died because of the distrust that African Americans have for healthcare institutions. She had access to the drugs, but she refused to take them."

Being faithful can be futile in the United States, too, because some black men have sex with other men in jail, then come home to infect their wives and girlfriends, said Sandre Mikell, who runs Village South, a peer counseling group in South Dade. "Girls have the knowledge, but they lack the self-esteem. They're afraid their men will hit them, or leave."

"We have a saying in Spanish that the woman's place is in the house, the man's place is in the street; he earns the bread, we cater to his needs," added Julia Llorente, who also was treated for HIV at Jackson and went on to set up the Peer Education Support Network in Miami. "We're afraid that if we don't, he will leave."

In an afternoon town hall meeting at UM, the group exchanged views with about 100 students from UM, Miami Dade College and Florida International University. For many, it was their first encounter with AIDS.

"I don't know how to help. I don't even know where to start," said Mavie Betancourt, 20, a UM junior.

"Tell them to say no to sex if a man won't use a condom," Ross said.

"Just find one person and explain to them what it means to be HIV-positive," Soliman said.

"Information about HIV and AIDS is the most important," Iskander said.

"You have to teach women how to say no to sex, how to negotiate the use of a condom."

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