Invisible Women campaign

Today, women are increasingly bearing the brunt of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. ActionAid has launched the Invisible Women campaign to bring the crisis facing women into the spotlight and to push governments to put women first in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

What’s the problem?
When we think of HIV and AIDS, many of us think of men. But this is changing. Today, of the 33 million people living with HIV and AIDS globally, half are women. And the number looks set to rise. In Sub-Saharan Africa already three quarters of all young positive people are women.

Simply because they are female, women and girls are denied their basic rights to education, healthcare and a decent living. Many women are economically dependent on men, and have little say over who they marry or have sex with. Violence against women is widespread. All these factors make women vulnerable to HIV infection.

What’s more, if infected, women and girls are more likely to face discrimination and violence, making life with HIV and AIDS more difficult.

Yet despite this reality, women are often invisible in policies to tackle HIV and AIDS.

Read how three women are living positively with HIV

What has ActionAid been doing?
ActionAid’s Invisible Women campaign is bringing the crisis facing women into the spotlight.

We’re telling world leaders that if they want to tackle HIV and AIDS, they need to confront the problems that women and girls face.

On World AIDS Day last year, we started with the UK Department for International Development. DFID have been busily writing a new global strategy to tackle HIV and AIDS, giving us a unique opportunity. 5000 ActionAid supporters have been piling the pressure on top DFID minister, Douglas Alexander.

So what’s happened?
As a result of this fantastic campaigning, the new strategy, launched on June 2, includes promises to tackle gender based violence, improve women’s healthcare and increase access to female-controlled HIV prevention such as female condoms.

But while the strategy ticks all our boxes, it hasn't set out exactly how DFID will deal with complex issues like violence against women. We’re worried that without an action plan, Douglas Alexander may find it hard to stick to his word. So we're advising him to strengthen his commitment with a long term plan to tackle the inequalities women face.

Email Gillian Merron, recently appointed DFID Minister and close advisor to Douglas Alexander. She can persuade Douglas to prove his commitment.

photo : ©ActionAid/ Jenny Matthews