Women and HIV/Aids in Lesotho: Linking Social and Structural Drivers, Policy, and Human Rights

The Kingdom of Lesotho has the third highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world currently estimated at 23.6%. Women in Lesotho are disproportionally infected with HIV, accounting for 56% of the national cases. Social and structural factors that create gender inequality and violence against women have been identified as key drivers of the epidemic. This paper examines social structural drivers of HIV/AIDS in Lesotho pertaining to women’s empowerment: gender inequality; GBV; and human rights violations. These drivers are explored through an examination of Lesotho’s laws, commitments to international protocols and declarations, and attitudes of Lesotho’s people (Basotho) toward sexual negotiation and GBV. In addition to creating an environment where women are more vulnerable to acquiring HIV infection, these factors have been identified as barriers to HIV testing in the region where women are often disclosing HIV test results to an untested partner, leaving them vulnerable to violence and abandonment. International HIV testing guidelines and national policies that implement routine testing and de-emphasize pre-test counseling may reinforce these social structural drivers and negatively affect the human rights of Basotho women. National HIV testing policies of Lesotho are analyzed through a human rights framework and linkages of these policies and social structural factors of the HIV/AIDS epidemic are explored.Master of Public Healt