1 Gender, Sexuality, and HIV/AIDS: The What, the Why, and the How By

The focus of my talk, as the title suggests, is on the what, why, and how of gender, sexuality, and HIV/AIDS. I would like to thank my colleagues and friends, Ellen Weiss from ICRW and Purnima Mane of the Population Council, for helping me put this talk together. The talk is limited to issues related to the heterosexual transmission of HIV because that has been the focus of my work over the last decade. I recognize that heterosexual transmission is only one aspect of the epidemic, but it is by no means irrelevant since the most recent statistics show that heterosexual transmission of HIV remains by far the most common mode of transmission globally. We have known for at least a decade that gender and sexuality are significant factors in the sexual transmission of HIV, and we now know that they also influence treatment, care, and support. Both terms, nevertheless, continue to remain misunderstood and inappropriately used. Gender is not a synonym for sex. It refers to the widely shared expectations and norms within a society about appropriate male and female behavior, characteristics, and roles. It