Government failing women and girls in the fight against HIV

Blueprint for Action on Women and Girls and HIV/AIDS
Media Release

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An international coalition of HIV/AIDS and women's health care advocates reported today on the failure of the Canadian government to meet the needs of women and girls in the Canadian HIV/AIDS epidemic during the third annual World AIDS Day Breakfast at the Sheraton Centre Hotel. The event was co-hosted by Business and Professional Women, Oxfam Canada and Voices of Positive Women.

Worldwide, of the 4.1 million adults newly infected with HIV in 2005, almost half were women over
15 years old. In Canada, 25% of new HIV infections in 2005 were women. Young women between the ages of 15 and 29 years are the highest proportion of HIV infections among women in this country.

This report rates the government on its progress on issues such as prevention, care, treatment, support, and human rights violations, including all forms of violence against women and girls as laid out in the Blueprint for Action on Women and Girls and HIV/AIDS, a document launched last year on World AIDS Day. The coalition gave the Canadian government an overall "D" grade in addressing these areas to date.

"The federal government has not done everything that it could to save the lives of women and girls as a result of HIV infection. This has become a gender biased epidemic. The government must implement the demands in the Blueprint for Action on Women and Girls and HIV/AIDS if it is serious about turning the tide of this epidemic for this group. Then it will get a very good grade in our report card of its activities and strategies to combat this disease," said Louise Binder, vice-chair of Voices of Positive Women and co-founder of the Blueprint for Action on Women and Girls and HIV/AIDS.

"Many of these women are infected within their marriages—monogamous and unable to negotiate safer sex practices with their husbands," added Binder who was diagnosed with HIV in 1993. "Others are infected because socio-economic factors make it impossible to negotiate safer sex or other risk reduction practices. This must stop or women will truly become endangered. Ultimately, therefore, so will men. It is not just a question of women's health, it is a matter of survival of the human race," said Binder.

In her address, guest speaker Barbara Hall, Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, emphasized that all levels of government and society have shared responsibility in the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls who face sexual harassment and discrimination.

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Binder will be in North Bay Saturday to speak to the Patrick 4 Life Foundation.