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SA: Women HIV/AIDS activists' advocacy for an equal voice
Mandisa Mbali. Republished from the UKZN Civil Society Website.
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It has become a tired cliché that the face of HIV/AIDS is a woman's face but, it is questionable whether infected or affected women's voices are really being heard loud and clear in the HIV/AIDS field.
Often, women are the majority of HIV/AIDS organizations' members, yet they are usually underrepresented in publicly-visible leadership positions. Women are on the margins of HIV/AIDS activism yet they want to move to the strategic centre of decision-making, policy-making, and addressing the media about HIV/AIDS activist campaigns. In this context, twelve women HIV/AIDS activists held a picket outside the opening ceremony of the 2nd South African HIV/AIDS Conference held at the International Convention Centre (ICC). The activists wore white gags over their mouths to show that they felt silenced through their exclusion from the conference and held banners demanding equal participation for women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in the conference. The banners at the picket pointed out that the R3 000 registration fee was enough to fund five months' combination antiretroviral (ARV) therapy for a woman living with HIV.
The women activists' grievances went much deeper in challenging sexism in the HIV/AIDS field in business, government and civil society sectors. Women activists at the picket argued that women's limited public visibility in paid leadership positions in many HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations meant many of that these organizations were sidelining women-specific treatment and prevention issues. Therefore, they have formed their own network called the WoMandla HIV/AIDS Networking Coalition (the WIN Coalition).
Women in HIV/AIDS Workshop The WIN coalition emerged from the "Women in HIV/AIDS: Activism and Leadership" workshop held from 5-6 June at the Tropicana Hotel in Durban. The two-day workshop was attended by fifty women HIV/AIDS activists (including the author). The first day of the workshop included reflections on the following: HIV/AIDS as a gendered epidemic; women's gendered experiences in HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations; and ways in which women's treatment and prevention issues are not being addressed by the HIV/AIDS field in government, business and civil society. These issues were explored by delegates through presentations and discussions and through creative media such as poetry, role-playing and art.
On the second day, women HIV/AIDS activists in attendance held small group discussions. As a result of these discussions the workshop produced a declaration calling for the following:
Gender policies and programs to address sexism in HIV/AIDS organizations.
Women-focused prevention services (such as wider access to female condoms and dental dams and the development of effective microbicides).
Women-focused treatment services and research.
Women-focused care and support including better access to social security.
Policies and programs to address the needs of marginalized women (such as, lesbians and bisexual women, refugees, sex workers and differently-abled women).
An end to sexism in government provision of services to survivors of gender-based violence.
And for government to report on progress achieved in the status of women in terms of the CEDAW convention, following consultation with women HIV/AIDS activists.
By the end of the workshop there was unanimous agreement on the need for an advocacy coalition for women HIV/AIDS activists to push for gender equality in their HIV/AIDS organizations and in addressing HIV/AIDS in wider society. This WIN coalition would campaign for the declaration's demands to be progressively realized.
Monitoring research on female controlled prevention methods As a result of the picket, five members of the network were granted scholarships to attend the conference. Women HIV/AIDS activists who had participated in the workshop wished to attend the conference to monitor whether HIV/AIDS research presented there was addressing women's specific needs.
One of the issues they wanted to look at was whether enough research was being done to widen the range of female-controlled prevention methods available to women such as research into microbicides and better female condoms. In this regard, the conference had many abstracts, posters and presentations on improving access to female controlled prevention methods.
Microbicides are gels or sprays, which are placed in the vagina, which are being clinically tested to see whether they can prevent HIV infection. Delegates at the South African HIV/AIDS Conference were told that there has been some progress in microbicide research and several phase three clinical trials are taking place. Phase three clinical trials are trials involving humans, where the efficacy of a pharmaceutical drug is tested. Professor Salim Abdool Karim highlighted how there were several 'products' now entering such clinical trials and how research into them may lead to promising findings.
On the second day of the conference, there was a session on "Reducing HIV risk in women" where delegates were told about new research on female condoms and microbicides. At this session, Dr Mags Beksinka from the Reproductive Health Research Unit told delegates about a clinical trial into synthetic latex female condoms which are cheaper to manufacture than the currently available polyurethane female condoms. These synthetic latex female condoms would cost a third to a half the currently available type's price (roughly R12 each). This would remove cost-barriers to making the female condoms more widely available in HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries. This new type of cheaper condoms has been tested and the researchers are currently applying for regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Need for women-focused treatment research Prudence Mabela, a member of the WoMandla coalition and woman HIV/AIDS activist living openly with HIV/AIDS , gave an inspiring speech at the opening plenary on the second day. In her talk she discussed how access to HIV treatment is allowing some women HIV/AIDS activists who can access it to live longer and continue their important advocacy work. She condemned the unjust waiting list and delays with the roll-out, which are leading to the preventable deaths of women HIV/AIDS activists in large numbers.
While women HIV/AIDS activists such as Mabela wanted more women to be able to access life-saving HIV treatment, they also wanted to find out what research was being done into side-effects of ARVs common in women such as lipodistrophy (where women's fat distribution and body shape changes). This was so that ARV dosages and regimens could be better suited to women's needs over time.
The full report can be accessed on the righthand side of this page. |
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