Please click on image to view larger
Please click on image to view larger
GLOBAL LINKS BETWEEN
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND HIV / AIDS
are 5-6 times more likely to become infected with HIV than
sub-Saharan Africa, girls account for 2/3 of the eight million
young people living with HIV/AIDS.
Trinidad and Tobago, HIV rates are 5 times higher in girls
than boys aged 15-19.
Cambodia, more than 40% of sex workers under the age of 19
are HIV positive.
percent of new HIV/AIDS infections worldwide occur among girls
and young women ages 15-24.
risk becoming infected at a much younger age than boys.
47% of the 36.1 million people living with HIV are women and
this proportion is growing.
Behind the Numbers
power over women -- often expressed through violence and coercion
over sexual decision-making -- is a critical factor behind these
statistics. Furthermore, when women become HIV positive, they are
often targets of violence from their families and communities.
Many factors contribute to this vulnerability:
Cultural Values and Beliefs
countries, masculinity is associated with having multiple sexual
partners, and with controlling the frequency and form of intercourse.
Femininity is associated with ignorance about sex and passivity
during the sexual act. These cultural values prevent women from
learning about and negotiating for safer sexual practices, or leaving
high-risk relationships. Cultural practices such as female genital
mutilation, early marriage, and polygamy also contribute to the
rapid increase of the epidemic.
and women often lack access to information about how to protect
themselves from HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, women's lack of education
and skills training increase their risk of poverty, and behavior
that raises their risks of HIV infection, e.g., sex work and drug
Policy and Legislation
countries, policy and law enforcement officials ignore violence
against women generally and the links between violence against
women and HIV/AIDS. Few, if any laws, protect women from domestic
violence, including rape within marriage. Unmarried women often
have no legal protection from partner abuse. Even where violence
against women is outlawed, violence often goes unpunished and women
are afraid to press charges. As a result, men often feel free to
abuse women, and women find it impossible to negotiate safe sex
with husbands or sexual partners.
are often economically dependent on the men they live with, making
it difficult to leave a relationship, even if it is abusive and
it exposes them to the HIV/AIDS infection. Women in poverty are
at particular risk. They may become victims of trafficking, and
trapped in forced prostitution and sexual slavery, and/or turn
to drugs, all raising the risk of HIV infection.
often have difficulty obtaining treatment if they are victims of
violence, or have contracted HIV/AIDS. HIV/STD prevention services,
condoms and treatment centers can be intimidating, unavailable
or insensitive. Further, women who are HIV positive are often denied
War and emergency situations
armed conflict, women and girls are threatened by rape, domestic
violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking, sexual humiliation
and mutilation. Rape by military personnel imposes even greater
risk of HIV infection than do other types of unprotected sex.
than 50% of battered women surveyed in one study stayed with
their abusive partner because they did not feel they could
support themselves and their children.
than 25% of the women surveyed said they were prevented by
their abuser from having access to money, and over half were
prevented any access to charge accounts.
A study found that the more economically dependent a battered
woman was on her abusive partner, the more severe the abuse.
25% of battered women surveyed had lost a job in part because
of the effects of domestic violence.
throughout the country show that between 40 - 60% of current
female welfare recipients have experienced domestic violence
at some point in their lives, and up to 25% have been abused
in the last year.
Back to Top
of the most dangerous things that can happen to a child is to torture
an animal and get away with it.” - Margaret
The links between animal
abuse and family violence are irrefutable. Often, animal abuse
may be the only visible sign that a woman or child is being victimized
by violence. Abusers use animals to threaten victims and coerce
them into doing what they ask. Many women are afraid to leave their
abusers because they do not want to leave their pets in a vulnerable
situation. Moreover, a child who tortures animals is more likely
than his or her peers to commit acts of violence against other
Thanks to the local
SPCA in the Florida Keys, DAS clients can leave their pets on a
temporary basis with the animal shelter. For more information,
call the Domestic Abuse Shelter at (305) 743-4440.
- The FBI found that a history of
cruelty to animals is one of the traits that regularly appears
in its computer records of serial rapists and murderers.
- To researchers, a fascination
with cruelty to animals is a red flag in the lives of serial
rapists and killers.
- Patrick Sherrill, Brenda Spender,
the Boston Strangler, Jeffrey Dahmer, the Son of Sam, and the
Columbine High School students all tortured animals before harming
- In 88% of 57 New Jersey families
being treated for child abuse, animals in the home had been abused.
- In one study of battered women,
57% of those with pets said their partners had harmed or killed
the animals. One in four said that she stayed with the batterer
because she feared leaving the pet behind.
- In 1993, California became the
first state to pass a law requiring animal control officers to
report child abuse. Similar legislation has been introduced in