16 Days of Activism/World AIDS Day

Violence against women and HIV/AIDS

Each year, the 16 Days of Activism campaign, running from November 25 to December 10, focuses on the elimination of violence against women. The Department of Gender, Women and Health (GWH), in coordination with the organizers of the campaign, the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL), are undertaking several activities to highlight the intersections between violence against women and women's health, particularly women's vulnerability to HIV. Advocacy messages and Resource and Take Action Kits have been developed. The kits can be downloaded from the CWGL website.

The 2004 World AIDS Day, on 1 December, has as its theme 'Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS'. In collaboration with WHO's Department of HIV/AIDS and UNAIDS, GWH has developed a policy brief on ensuring equitable access to anti-retroviral treatment for women.

Under the broad umbrella of the UNAIDS-initiated 'Global Coalition on Women and AIDS', WHO and the Center for Women's Global Leadership work on the theme of violence against women. The Global Coalition is a new initiative to raise the visibility of issues related to women, girls and AIDS and lead to concrete, measurable improvements in the lives of women and girls around the world. As part of the Coalition's activities, a poster with advocacy messages has been developed jointly by GWH and the Center for Women's Global Leadership.

GWH has also developed information briefs exploring the critical intersections between violence against women and HIV/AIDS.

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