Gender, poverty and intergenerational vulnerability to HIV/ AIDS. Gender and Development

‘After the death of her husband, the wife now has the problem of looking after the family: looking for food, paying school fees, and finding money for treatment when children fall sick. A lot of money was spent in treating him. The wife even had to borrow money. Now they are in debt.’ A woman speaker from Kibaale, Uganda (Oxfam 1998). HIV/AIDS is one of the major obstacles to achieving the 2015 development targets in Africa, where it is now the leading cause of death. Women’s limited economic options, and relative powerlessness, may force them into sex work in order to cope with household economic crisis. This exposes them to HIV infection and they in turn will transmit HIV to their clients. Young girls are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection, because of intergenerational sexual relationships, violence, and limited access to information. In addition, discrimination and stigma obstruct young girls’ access to health services. Poverty causes increased migration to look for work. In some contexts, such as in Southern Africa, it is men who migrate, while in others such as Central America and Nepal, it is women. Migration increases the risk of infectio