Women (M thru Z)

"In the year 2001, it would be fair to say that HIV has emerged as a phenomenon in the lives of people world-wide and has become a social reality. Sadly, the focus of government-sponsored programmes has been only on prevention of the spread of HIV, and not on care, treatment and/ or support. Despite the obvious trends, government campaigns have been desperately slow and have been targeting populations in a compartmentalized manner. The government has been unwilling to look at the issues relating to illness within a family and the consequent dip in its economic conditions.

The sense of crisis is heightened as more and more people get infected with HIV and are dying due to the lack of medicines and treatment in hospitals. The rapidly emerging problems that families, including women and children, have to deal with have been completely ignored and HIV has shifted the burden on to people who are themselves dependent on food, clothing, shelter, medicines, etc. The laws of the land have evolved to partly protect the economic rights of women and their matrimonial property rights. Paradoxically, the ground realities and social circumstances relating to HIV have only perpetuated, exacerbated and heightened the inequalities that render women homeless and destitute - this despite the fact that the position of women under law has changed radically.

Women have for long been economically dependent. Economic dependency was fostered so that the wife could fulfill her role of procreation, bring up children and be available for sex to the husband. The law casts a duty upon a man to maintain his wife, children and aged parents. The wife thus has a right to be maintained by her husband, during marriage, on separation and as alimony on divorce. Maintenance includes providing a residence, food, clothing, medicines and the basic comforts in life. The amount of maintenance would depend on the income of the husband.

In the HIV scenario, the economic burden of the family seems to be falling on women and children. When the husband, the breadwinner in the family, falls ill and enters the symptomatic stage, he is unable to work. He thus has no source of income and cannot maintain his wife and children. The few savings made over the years are spent on treatment. Consequently the nutrition levels of the family as a whole fall drastically. The women often sell their jewellery to pay for the costs of medicines and treatment. The children are forced to drop out of school, as they have to look after an ill parent, do chores in the house and contribute to the finances in the family. This is a common phenomenon in most families affected by HIV. ." WOMEN AND HIV/AIDS - THE PERPETUAL BATTLE OF THE "BETTER HALF'S

AIDS is the leading cause of death among African American and Hispanic women ages 25-44 in the US. African American and Hispanic women accounted for 76% of new AIDS cases among women reported in 1996 in the US. Women are one of the fastest growing groups of new AIDS cases, accounting for 20% of newly reported cases in the US and 42% of new cases worldwide. In clinical research on potential treatments, only 12% of research participants are female. Women are 33% more likely to die than men because treatment begins so much later, if at all. http://natap.org/

ADDITIONAL ARTICLES:

Document Name & Link to Document

Description

File Size /Type**

Making Sex Work Safe (Large report-increased download time)	Making Sex Work Safe covers key issues for those initiating projects, including developing policies and strategies, what is safe commercial sex, working with mobile populations and drug users, and planning and evaluating projects. However, it does not attempt to be a complete guide.	2500 kb pdf
Male circumcision for the heterosexual acquisition of HIV in men	Circumcision practices are largely culturally determined, so there are strong beliefs and opinions surrounding them.	Pdf 169 kb
Mapping the inhuman Trade: Preliminary Findings of the Database on Trafficking in Human Beings	Trafficking in human beings has been one of the most heated topics in international criminological discourse for some years. Many issues have been debated, such as the definition of trafficking in human beings, the differences between such trafficking and smuggling of migrants, its connection with prostitution and the legal significance of the consent of victims, to mention just a few.	Pdf 99 kb
Mbeki condemns violence against women	In a recent survey conducted among 1,500 schoolchildren in the Soweto township, a quarter of all the boys interviewed said that 'jackrolling' - a South African term for recreational gang rape - was fun. Mr Mbeki said his government would speed up the establishment of centres for abused women and children and increase Aids-related work to improve support for Aids victims and orphans.
Medical Adherence among HIV positive Women	For HIV-positive patients, effective therapy often requires complex dosing regimens involving combinations of antiretroviral medications to suppress viral replication, delay disease progression, and prolong survival. However, poor compliance with this medication regimen can lead to incomplete viral suppression and the development of drug-resistant strains.
Men as Partners: South African Men Respond to Violence Against Women and HIV/AIDS	In South Africa, like in many parts of the world, men all too often act in ways that contribute to a variety of public health problems such as domestic and sexual violence, sexually transmitted infections, spiraling rates of HIV/AIDS, and high rates of maternal and infant mortality.	1121 kb pdf
Men of Quality are not afraid of equality.	Besides deep changes in society, what we need is a deeply spiritual transformation in identity of men	2,619 kb pdf
Migration, trafficking & Exploitation of Women in Thailand	Health and HIV/AIDS risks for Burmese and Hill tribe women and girls. This report describes the policy failures of the government of Thailand, despite a program widely hailed as a model of HIV prevention for the region.	625 kb pdf
Migration Trends in Central Asia and the Case of Trafficking of Women (Large report-increase download time)	After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the elimination of state regulation of population movements, migration from, to and within Central Asia has become an acute and continuous process.	Pdf 4820 kb
Modern-Day Comfort Women: The US Military, Transnational Crime, and the Trafficking of Women	This paper will examine three types of trafficking that are connected to US military bases in South Korea: Domestic trafficking of Korean women to clubs around the military bases in South Korea, transnational trafficking of women to clubs around military bases in South Korea, and the transnational trafficking of women from South Korea to massage parlors in the United States	71 kb pdf
Modern Marriage, Extramarital Sex, and HIV Risk in Southeastern Nigeria	For women in Nigeria, as in many settings, simply being married can contribute to the risk of contracting HIV. This ethnographic study examines how modern marriage, despite appearances of greater gender equality, places many women in positions where they cannot easily confront their husbands’ infidelity or protect themselves from HIV infection. Male extramarital sexual practices are situated in socioeconomic and cultural contexts, showing how the social organization of infidelity is located at the intersection of economic inequality, aspirations for modern lifestyles, gender disparities, and contradictory moralities. It is people’s anxieties about sexual morality and social reputation in the context of seeking modern lifestyles -- rather than immoral sexual behavior and traditional culture – that exacerbate risks produced by poverty and inequality.	Pdf 324 kb
Morality of Premarital Sex by Religiosity and Generation	Premarital sex is an issue that most teenagers and young couples face as they enter new phases of their relationship. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a correlation between acceptance of sexual relations before marriage and religiosity or generation. This study is a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of the variables PREMARSX, RELPERSN, and COHORT (which was recoded into three generation categories), which were extracted from the 1998 General Social Survey (GSS). Data analysis of the three variables was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 10.0, applying Pearson's chi-square as the test of statistical significance and Cramer's V as the measure of association. The results of this study indicate that very religious people are more inclined to view premarital sexual relations as always wrong. When compared to the three generation categories, no significant correlation existed.
“My husband has many girlfriends”:-The political economy of male infidelity and married women’s HIV risk in Uganda	Married women’s greatest risk for HIV infection is from their husbands’ extramarital liaisons. This article examines the socio-economic context that shapes men’s extramarital sexuality. Based on six months of ethnographic research in southeastern Uganda, this paper demonstrates how the intertwining of (1) HIV messages of ‘be faithful’, (2) new discourses of modern love and gender equality, and (3) monetization of the economy have driven men’s extramarital sex underground. Increased stigma surrounding polygyny and infidelity combined with mobility and migration patterns have facilitated greater secrecy surrounding extramarital relationships and a pattern of informal secondary households. Denial and secrecy surrounding extramarital sexuality have become a way for husbands and wives to manage their pubic reputations and maintain the appearance of modern marital idea. By examining geographies of secrecy and risk, this paper suggests that risk reduction must address structural factors that provide opportunities for men’s extramarital sex.	Pdf 324 kb
New challenges: HIV/AIDS and drugs	Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS have led in some parts of the world to an increased demand for young sex partners, including very young children. In addition to the fallacy that children are less likely to contract and transmit HIV/AIDS, in some countries of Asia these are long-established myths about the rejuvenating powers of youth.	82 kb pdf
New Zealand Sex Industry-a guide to Occupational Health and Safety	This guide has been written for everyone involved in the New Zealand sex industry: sex workers both employed and self-employed, operators, owners and others such as sex worker organizations.	408 kb pdf
News: OSI Sues USAID over Dangerous Public Health Policy	The Open Society Institute (OSI), along with its affiliate the Alliance for Open Society International (AOSI), filed a lawsuit today against USAID to challenge its unconstitutional and dangerous policy of requiring grantees to sign a pledge opposing prostitution. Failure to endorse this loyalty oath means health workers across the world striving to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS could lose funding and be forced to abandon life-saving programs.
Nun or prostitute? Tibet's women face few choices	There are few choices for women in Tibet-if you are single you can either become a nun or prostitute.
Nutritional Assessment of Newborns of HIV Infected Mothers	Pediatric AIDS is poised to become a major public health problem in India. Nutritional status of the newborn is an important indicator which determines the fetal malnutrition and also neonatal morbidity and mortality in HIV infection. Although some data exist about the deleterious effect of HIV infection on the growth of infected children, no data exists about the role of nutritional assessment of newborn of HIV infected mother, subsequent sequelae of the disease or response to treatment in infants or children. This study is directed towards nutritional assessment of newborns of HIV positive mother using anthropometry, Ponderal Index (PI) and Clinical assessment of Nutritional status (CAN) score.	Pdf 50 kb
Obstetric Care in Patients with HIV Disease	Appropriate management of pregnant patients who have human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease can have a major impact on maternal and infant health. The goals of therapy are to properly manage the pregnancy, treat the maternal HIV infection and minimize the risk of vertical transmission of HIV. Early detection of HIV through aggressive screening programs is necessary to initiate timely therapy.
OPEN-ENDED PROSTITUTION AS A SKILLFUL GAME OF LUCK	Rural to urban migrants from depressed areas of Thailand, and particularly the Northeast (Isaan), move into Bangkok in ever-greater numbers in search of employment and income for their own subsistence or for the support of their relatives back home. Prominent among these are large numbers of young women, many of whom hope to make enough money in the city to be able to support not only themselves, but also their parents, siblings and children. They soon realize that the employment opportunities for uneducated and unskilled workers are severely limited. In fact, it appears that in recent years the opportunity structure facing unskilled in-migrant women in Bangkok has even contracted.
Our Lives Matter	Rigorous anti-prostitution laws and policies around the globe lead to the imposition of harsh and repressive measures against sex workers. Intolerance and stigma make it difficult for sex workers to safeguard their health and lives. Despite these challenges, sex workers have organized to defend their human rights with creativity and wisdom. They have protested to be free from incarceration, violence, extortion, eviction, and humiliation. They have fought for equal access to health care services. And they have called for sex work to be officially recognized as work, a policy shift already taking hold in some countries that has significant implications for securing the benefits to which sex workers are entitled.	957 kb pdf
Our Lives Matter: Sex Workers Unite for Health and Rights	Sex workers organizing in defense of their lives and livelihoods is nothing new. Stigma and discrimination against sex workers have made it a necessity and, at times, a matter of life and death. An important change has occurred over the last three decades, however. Sex workers’ health and rights groups have emerged all over the globe in countries big and small, rich and poor. Some groups are nascent and modest in scope, while others have, over time, assembled thousands of sex workers into a formidable social movement. Formed for different reasons and facing different conditions, working jointly or on their own, these groups all want recognition of sex workers as people with rights. They have led the call for equal access to health services, full human rights, and labor rights. Together, these passionate and tireless activists are the backbone of the sex workers’ health and rights movement.	Pdf 1121 kb
Passing the Test: New York's Newborn	This appendix traces the evolution of policy in New York State regarding the screening of newborns for HIV antibodies, from the introduction of the blinded newborn seroprevalence survey in November 1987 through the implementation of the mandatory newborn testing and notification begun in February 1997.
Police investigate trafficking of women across West Timor border	Many Indonesian women were enticed to work abroad with high salary but in fact they were sold and forced to make a living as sex workers. According to Gadis, the current law on children's protection could not cover all cases of women and children smuggling.
Positively Abandoned: Stigma and Discrimination against HIV-positive Mothers and their Children in Russia	Russia is home to one of the fastest-growing and potentially massive AIDS epidemics in the world, but the government has done little to address the problem. As a result, the Russian public today, though highly educated, is almost as ignorant of HIV and how it is spread as it was ten years ago, when AIDS was hardly known in Russia	Pdf 303 kb
Postpartum sexual abstinence in the era of AIDS in Ghana: prospects for change	Postpartum sexual abstinence for females has been identified as one of the socio-cultural factors with the potential for creating conditions for the sexual spread of HIV in areas where it is practised. In general, women are expected to abstain from sex after childbirth in order to ensure the survival of the mother and child. Men are not similarly expected to abstain and that has been used to rationalize polygyny.	Pdf 49 kb
Predictors of Risky Sexual Behavior in African American Adolescent Girls: Implications for Prevention Interventions	Teens presenting in primary care settings in urban environments seem to be at high risk for HIV, STDs, and substanceabuse, and risk reduction strategies should be introduced duringthe preteen years. An interdisciplinary model of care in primarycare settings serving adolescents is clearly indicated, andprevention-oriented interventions aimed at reducing risky behaviorsand preventing the development of more significant health,mental health, or substance abuse disorders are needed.
Pregnancy in Perinatally HIV-Infected Adolescents and Young Adults -- Puerto Rico, 2002	The number of perinatally HIV-infected females in the United States who are becoming both sexually active and pregnant is increasing. During August 1998-May 2002, a total of 10 pregnancies were identified among eight perinatally HIV-infected adolescents and young adults in Puerto Rico; in April 2002, the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH) asked CDC to assist in assessing such pregnancies. This report describes these pregnancies and discusses factors associated with sexual activity and pregnancy.
Perspectives on trafficking in human beings-English, Portuguese, and Greek Languages	Trafficking in human beings is a controversial and delicate issue. Victims of this phenomenon are often liable to inhuman treatments. However, in most countries, they are regarded as irregular migrants who face forced deportation	1,834 kb pdf
Predictors of Mother-Adolescent Discussions About Condoms: Implications for Providers Who Serve Youth	By univariate analysis, mother-adolescent communication about condoms was associated with greater knowledge about sexuality and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, perception of having enough information to discuss condoms, information from a health-related source, less conservative attitudes about adolescent sexuality, perception that the adolescent was at risk for human immunodeficiency virus, greater ability and comfort in discussing condoms, stronger belief that condoms prevent human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and a more favorable endorsement of condoms
Predictors of Mother-Adolescent Discussions About Condoms: Implications for Providers Who Serve Youth	By univariate analysis, mother-adolescent communication about condoms was associated with greater knowledge about sexuality and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, perception of having enough information to discuss condoms, information from a health-related source, less conservative attitudes about adolescent sexuality, perception that the adolescent was at risk for human immunodeficiency virus, greater ability and comfort in discussing condoms, stronger belief that condoms prevent human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and a more favorable endorsement of condoms	150 kb pdf
Preparing for adulthood: adolescent sexual and reproductive health	The nature and experience of adolescence vary tremendously by sex, marital status, class, region and cultural context. As a group, however, adolescents are generally recognized to have sexual and reproductive health needs that differ from those of adults and which are still poorly understood in much of the world	494 kb pdf
Preteens in Indian Caste Forced Into Prostitution	In one Indian community, 12-year-old girls are forced into prostitution, driven by the economic needs of their families and the pressure of religious legend. Human rights officials are trying to end the practice, but red tape slows their efforts.
Prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and performance of STI syndromes against aetiological diagnosis, in female sex workers of red light area in Surat, India	The mean number of different sexual partners of SWsper day was five. 94.9% reported consistent condom use withthe clients. 58.5% of SWs had no symptoms related to STDs atthe time of examination. Reported symptoms included lower abdominalpain (19.5%), abnormal vaginal discharge (12.7%), painful sexualintercourse (12.7%), painful micturition (11.0%), itching aroundthe genital area (10.2%), and genital ulcer (5.9%). The prevalenceof STI "syndromes" were vaginal discharge syndrome 51.7%, painin lower abdomen 19.5%, enlarged inguinal lymph nodes 11.9%,and genital ulcer 5.9%. Based on the laboratory reports (excludingHIV tests), 62 (52.5%) SWs did not have any of the four tested STIs. Prevalence of laboratory confirmed STIs were syphilis22.7% (based on reactive syphilis serology tests), gonorrhoea16.9%, genital chlamydial infection 8.5%, and trichomoniasis14.4%. HIV prevalence was 43.2%. The performance of Indian recommended treatment guidelines for vaginal discharge syndrome (VDS) andgenital ulcer syndrome (GUS) against aetiological diagnosiswas poor.
Prevention of Mother to Child transmission of HIV/AIDS.	Every communication initiative should be strategic and sustainable. However, due to lack of adequate human and financial resources, and to other constrains, some communication initiatives, including the ones employed in the response to HIV/AIDS, are still too often developed without a proper strategic planning methododoloty	Pdf 27 kb
Preventing Trafficking and HIV/AIDS in South Asia	The issue of sex work cannot be separated from the larger context of education, empowerment and economic opportunities for women. Women in sex trade may work voluntarily or against their will. While customers of sex workers are not discriminated against, prostitutes are currently perceived to be indecent and immoral people who need help	635 kb pdf
profiting from abuse	At the same time, millions of children throughout the world are exploited for commercial sex. Bought and sold like chattel, trafficked within and across borders, thrown into such situations as forced marriage, prostitution and child pornography, many suffer profound and sometimes permanent damage. Normal physical and emotional development is compromised. Self-esteem and confidence are undermined. The desperate vulnerability of such children is only heightened by endemic factors like violence, drugs and sexually transmitted diseases. The vast majority are also denied their right to education – and even to the briefest moments of leisure and play. Because they are fearful of further abuse, including abuse by the authorities, such children typically have little recourse to the law. And those who return home may find themselves stigmatized by their own families and communities.	Pdf 919 kb
Prostitution and HIV/AIDS	Female prostitutes in particular are perceived as the bridge between an HIV-infected "underworld" and the "general population" (to be read as heterosexual white males). According to policy-makers and the media, the protection of public health justifies draconian legal measures and moral intolerance. Few if any of these measures reduce a prostitute's own risk of contracting HIV. Research has indicated that punitive measures to control the sex trade -- such as increased criminal penalties, mandatory testing, and electronic monitoring -- will further erode prostitutes' ability to negotiate safe sex and further alienate them from public health initiatives. As a result, HIV risks will be increased rather than reduced. Nevertheless, governments continue to pursue these policies.
Prostitution and HIV/AIDS	Legal, moral and social censure of prostitutes has increased dramatically since the advent of HIV/AIDS. As has been the case throughout history, sex-trade workers are seen as the "vectors of disease." Female prostitutes in particular are perceived as the bridge between an HIV-infected "underworld" and the "general population" (to be read as heterosexual white males). According to policy-makers and the media, the protection of public health justifies draconian legal measures and moral intolerance. Few if any of these measures reduce a prostitute's own risk of contracting HIV. Research has indicated that punitive measures to control the sex trade -- such as increased criminal penalties, mandatory testing, and electronic monitoring -- will further erode prostitutes' ability to negotiate safe sex and further alienate them from public health initiatives. As a result, HIV risks will be increased rather than reduced.
Prostitution: Causes and Solutions	Around the world today, there is a human rights crisis of sexual abuse of millions of women, children, and thousands of men in prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation. There are regions of the world where prostitution has gone from being almost non-existent to a hundred million dollar moneymaking industry.	Pdf 31 kb
Prostitution and Slavery in Asia: Does the Market Set the Captives Free?	I have argued for the importance of contextualizing and distinguishing modern forms of sex work in Asia, from earlier forms. I have suggested that sex tourism corresponds to Euro-American colonial forms of slavery, which dealt in humans as nonhuman commodities, while precolonial Asians in all of their diversity and difference, preponderantly treated their slaves as part of their living and related societal body. Policymakers of international lending bodies and local governments, among others, have “rationalized” and perpetuated the sex tourism industry in Asia by “saying” that it has always existed there. But, the kind of sexuality that can be bought and sold as a commodity on the market, for example, wherein “aman can turn his desire into a thing,” is not the same kind of sexuality that was integral to the social reproduction of Asian social formations.
Prostitution in Canada:	Throughout time prostitution has aroused a wide range of emotions from the communities in which it exists. Some are morally outraged by its presence, others merely curious. Some view it as a threat, others as a necessary evil. However, at least in recorded history, no society has completely accepted it as a valid and integral part of the community. Prostitution is something to be abhorred or tolerated but never condoned. It is a "nuisance," a "problem," but above all it is an embarrassment. For the religiously inclined it reminds us that we are far from the moral standards set for us by most scriptures. For government officials it is considered a sign of their mismanagement since prostitution is taken to symbolize a society in decline. For police officials it is a blotch on their record, an indication of incompetency, because it is something they are unable to control much less eradicate. For many feminists it signals the continued entrenchment of the patriarchy, the ultimate exploitation of women, a significant indication of how far we are from achieving full gender equality. Prostitution is the poor relative of whom we are slightly ashamed, the black sheep of the family who is a reproach to our cultural image of ourselves. And so like most families in this situation we would keep prostitution out of sight, if not out of mind, as much as possible.
Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	In an effort to document the experiences of women in prostitution, we interviewed and administered psychological tests to 475 people currently and recently prostituted in five countries. These people live in social and legal contexts defining them variously as hated and filthy women, criminals and ‘sex workers’…Since violence is associated with psychological trauma, we also inquired about the severity of current symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.	227 kb pdf
Prostitution: a critical review of the medical and social sciences literature	Listing of several different articles and papers	112 kb pdf
Prostitution on Demand	Research, programs, and legislation related to sex trafficking are often premised on the invisibility of the male buyer and the failure to address men’s role in buying and abusing women in prostitution… others act as if the male demand for sexual exploitation is insignificant, or that prostitution is so entrenched because, after all, “men will be men.”	135 kb pdf
Prostitution: Then and Now	When thinking about trades that have been around for centuries prostitution is not one that normally comes to mind yet it is claimed to be one of the oldest of professions. People have very different views on the subject of prostitution. Since Mesopotamian times, attitudes surrounding prostitution have evolved and changed many times from a celebrated necessity to a cultural evil. The United States Victorian era (1840-1900) experienced the same evolution of thoughts as their prostitutes experienced empathy in the beginning of the century then utter rejection towards the end. The twentieth century on through to the twenty-first has kept the ideals of the latter Victorians. American society’s outlook towards prostitution has not changed in over a century and a half because the societal views and the debate over a solution remain the same.
Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation	Child sexual abuse and exploitation is a global phenomenon. It exists in most cultures irrespective of material wealth and state ideology	70 kb pdf
Provisions for Victims of Trafficking in Bonded Sexual labour, i.e. prostitution	Trafficking in human beings is a violation of the trafficked person’s rights. The trafficked person is also a victim of a crime. It is important to identify these persons as a victim under the law and as a person whose human rights are violated. National laws should have a legal definition of trafficking as a crime while at the same time these laws need to empower the victim to access their rights	443 kb pdf
Public Health and the Human Rights of sex workers	In most countries, sex workers are stigmatized, discriminated against, prosecuted, and harassed. They are often seen as immoral people or as victims of unscrupulous traffickers who exploit the lack of opportunities of deprivileged inhabitants of mostly poor countries	Pdf 597 kb
Rapes fuel Bangladesh AIDS crisis	Police officers and crime lords who sexually abuse gay men and sex workers are stoking an emerging AIDS epidemic in Bangladesh, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report warned on Tuesday
Reducing prenatal HIV transmission in developing countries through antenatal and delivery care, and breastfeeding	In southern African countries, where the pandemic of HIV is moving faster than prevention efforts, pediatric wards of hospitals are becoming overcrowded with infants and children dying of AIDS and the average rate of HIV infection in women attending antenatal clinics can be 30% or more	Pdf 335 kb
Report of the Expert Group on Strategies for Combating the Trafficking of Women and Children	Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, for commercial sexual exploitation is one of the fastest growing areas of international criminal activity and of increasing concern to the international community…Trafficking for the purposes of labour exploitation, forced labour, marriage, adoption and the trade in organs are additional areas of concern, but are less well documented.	Pdf 279 kb
Report of the Task Force on protection From Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises	The grave allegations of widespread sexual exploitation and abuse of refugee and internally displaced women and children by humanitarian workers and peacekeepers in West Africa have highlighted the vulnerability of refugees, internally displaced persons and others, especially women and girls	187 kb pdf
Reproductive & Child Health Programs.	This document summarizes the productive collaboration between USAID and the Moroccan MOH spanning a period of over three decades.	Pdf 1,481 kb
Resiliency Approach to Adolescent Reproductive Health	Power Point Presentation	171 kb pdf
Resource: Risky business - the market for unprotected commercial sex	Each day over 20,000 people become infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide, a large proportion of whom are infected through unprotected sex with sex workers (UNAIDS 2002). Although condoms are an effective defense against the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and there has been substantial education of sex workers regarding the risk of infection, large numbers of sex workers are not using condoms with their clients (UNAIDS 2002). Indeed, infection rates among sex workers are among the highest of any group, especially in developing countries with widely disseminated epidemics (World Bank 1999). A major question confronting policy makers who design and implement interventions for the prevention of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and STIs is: Why do sex workers risk infection by not using condoms in their work?
RIGHTS-INDIA: Building a New Life for HIV-Infected Child Sex Workers	According to Sinha, 70 percent of the 218 girl children rescued during a police raid some years ago on a Mumbai brothel, were found HIV- infected. "These minors are more prone to the infection as they don't have the power to say no to sex without a condom," she says.
Risk Factors for HIV among Housewives in San Salvador	Historically, HIV/AIDS behavioral research has focused on those populations and communities considered at highest risk for contracting and transmitting HIV. Other than female sex workers, however, women have been neglected internationally as a focus of AIDS research. Consequently, there has been inadequate understanding of women at risk and little attention to gender specific prevention efforts	340 kb pdf
Risk, Morality, and Blame: A Critical Analysis of Government and US Donor Responses to HIV Infections Among Sex Workers in India	The vulnerability of women sex workers to HIV infection in India is best understood through a lens of the ‘multiple disadvantages’ sex workers face in the context of both broad social inequities and specific gender disparities. Despite recent economic progress and the growth of a large middle class in India, gender disparities in education, access to land and property, and other means of attaining economic security persist.	298 kb pdf
Role of core and bridging groups in the transmission dynamics of HIV and STIs	The potential for exposure of low and high risk women to HIVand sexually transmitted infections (STI) through unprotectedsex with male clients of female sex workers in Cotonou couldaccount for most if not all of the estimated yearly numbersof HIV infections in Cotonou women (1000). As ongoing transmissionof HIV, and also of the most predominant STIs such as gonorrhoeaand HSV-2, appears to be largely fuelled by transmission withincore and bridging groups in Cotonou, interventions targetedat both female sex workers and their male clients remain ofthe utmost importance and could have a significant effect onthe evolution of HIV/STI epidemics in Benin.
sacred lives.	Over a period of five months, consultations with more than 150 commercially sexually exploited Aboriginal children and youth tool place in 22 communities across Canada.	818 kb pdf
Securing the Supply of Condoms and Other Essential Products for HIV/AIDS Programs	Power Point Presentation	1,953 kb
Sex and HIV: Behaviour-change trial Shows no Link	While the trial led to a marked change in sexual behavioural patterns, with the proportion reporting causal sexual partners falling from around 35 per cent to 15 per cent, there was no noticeable fall in the number of new cases of HIV infection, although there was a significant reduction in sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhoea.
Sex for Sale, Legally	Though some governments are still trying to crack down on prostitution, others are realizing that it is better to legalize and license it than to suffer the ill effects of driving it underground. New Zealand has just done so; Belgium looks set to be next.
Sex, Race, and Criminalization	2 million women and children internationally trafficked each year into the sex industry and for labor. All estimates, however, are preliminary and do not include trafficking within countries. The most prevalent forms of sex trafficking are for prostitution, sex tourism, and mail‑order bride industries. Women and children are also trafficked for bonded labor and domestic work, and much of this trafficking concludes with their being sexually exploited as well.
Sex trafficking in women from Central and East European countries-promoting a ‘victim-centered’ and ‘woman-centred’ approach to criminal justice	Since the collapse of the Berlin wall, women and girls have been trafficked from central and eastern Europe to work as prostitutes in the European union…The focus is on criminal justice intervention with respect to protection of and assistance to ‘victims’, and a specially witness protection	Pdf 131 kb
Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States	Accounts about sex trafficking in the United States, mainly appearing in national and local media, indicate that trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation is a national problem, and one that is increasing is scope and magnitude. The US government estimates that 50,000 women and children are trafficked each year into the United States, primarily from Latin America, countries of the former Soviet Union and Southeast Asia	587 kb pdf
Sex Work and HIV/AIDS in Asia (Large report-increase download time)	People who buy and sell sex pose one of the high-risk behaviours for HIV exposure in Asia. It is therefore essential for HIV prevention interventions to take into account the nature of the Asian sex industry	2,712 kb pdf
Sex Workers and the Cost of Safe Sex: The Compensating Differential for Condom Use in Calcutta	The practice of safe sex by commercial sex workers is considered to be central in preventing the transmission of AIDS in developing countries. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that sex workers may face large losses in income from using condoms because of a strong preference for condom-free sex among clients.	98 kb pdf
Sex work in the south	In recent times, prompted by the concern over the spread of HIV/AIDS, commercial sex workers have been the focus of a great deal of attention, primarily with the aim of promoting safe sex as a method of preventing disease. Despite the numerous groups active among sex workers, and despite the government’s professed interest in the matter, there has been no accurate assessment of the total number of people practicing the profession in India
Sex Workers join Efforts to Contain Spread of AIDS	Commercial sex workers are not responsible for the rise in AIDS cases regionally, but their activities do contribute, and efforts to contain the spread of HIV now include members of the world's oldest profession
Sex workers problems in Greece	This law in Greece it's unconstitutional and can't make things work because you can't find a place in Athens which is 200 metre [away] from churches, schools youth centers public squares public buildings etc.
Sexuality	Power Point Presentation
Sexual Abuse of Women in U.S. State Prisons	Our findings indicate that being a woman prisoner in U.S. state prisons can be a terrifying experience. If you are sexually abused, you cannot escape from your abuser. Grievance or investigatory procedures, where they exist, are often ineffectual, and correctional employees continue to engage in abuse because they believe they will rarely be held accountable, administratively or criminally. Few people outside the prison walls know what is going on or care if they do know. Fewer still do anything to address the problem.
Sexual and Reproductive Health of Women and Adolescent Girls Living With HIV (Large report, increase download time)	People living with HIV and AIDS (PLHA) have the right to freely choose whether or not to have children; how many to have and when to have them; and to have access to integrated health services promoting care and attention to sexual and reproductive health (SRH), including family planning (FP), prevention of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), for themselves and their partners. The right to sexual and reproductive health extends to all men and women, irrespective of their serological status for HIV.	Pdf 3332 kb
Sexual behavior among Vietnamese married women	While sex is love, excitement, and joy, in Vietnam existing studies also portray sexual activity as a source of weakness, fatigue and even an extra burden for women. They bear high rates of abortion and reproductive tract infections.
Sexual Behavior, HIV & Fertility Trends.	The USAID-supported ABC Study examines how prevention behaviors may have affected HIV prevalence as well as fertility patterns in three countries where HIV prevalence declined during the 90’s and in three countries where it appears not to have declined.	Pdf 3,541 kb
Sexual behaviour change in countries with generalised HIV epidemics? Evidence from population-based cohort studies in sub-Saharan Africa	It has been 27 years since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in Africa and, although we understand more about the transmission and treatment of the disease, our knowledge of how new infections can be prevented remains limited.1 The risk of HIV acquisition is known to be closely associated with unprotected sexual intercourse, and adoption of safer sexual behaviour is still the main message of most national HIV prevention programmes. However, while declines in HIV prevalence have been associated with changes in sexual behaviour,4 ecological studies have failed to find associations between risk behaviour and the prevalence of HIV or other sexually transmitted infections (STI), and scientific trials show no evidence for a population-level effect of behavioural interventions.
Sexuality Standards, Sexual Attitudes and Sexual Behavior	In recent years a major public health effort has been directed at slowing the rise of teen pregnancy and halting the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases. The appearance of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) on the sexual scene has added new urgency to these programs since there is currently no vaccine or cure. Behavioral change is the only way to limit the spread of AIDS. Abstinence and using condoms if sexually active can reduce the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and can also effectively reduce the transmission of other sexually transmitted diseases and prevent pregnancy.
Sexually transmitted infections in male clients of female sex workers in Benin	Since most STIs are asymptomatic in this population,case finding programmes for gonorrhoea and chlamydia could beuseful. The performance characteristics of the LED test in thisstudy suggest that it could be useful to detect asymptomaticinfection by either C trachomatis or N gonorrhoeae in high riskmen
Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth, 2008-09 (Large report, increase download time)	The result of this process yielded a sample representing 26,551 adjudicated youth held nationwide in state operated and large locally or privately operated juvenile facilities.1 A total of 10,263 youth participated in the survey. Of these, 1,065 received an alternative survey on drug and alcohol use and treatment, and 9,198 youth participated in the survey of sexual victimization.	Pdf 1168 kb
Size Matters: The Number of Prostitutes and the Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic	One of the biggest puzzles facing HIV/AIDS researchers over the years is why some countries of the world have been so hard hit by the virus while others appear relatively unscathed. Some central and southern African countries are experiencing HIV/AIDS prevalence rates for their general populations in the 25% to 35% range while more than 40 other countries of the world report prevalence rates of .2% or less	Pdf 117 kb
Slavery Slips Through Cracks in U.S. Policy	The psychological grip of enslavement is typically compounded by a terror of government authority that traffickers seed in their captives… Critics fear that authorities are failing to address slavery as a pervasive human rights abuse, not unique to any economic sector
Slavery, American-Style	Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Between 800,000 and 900,000 women, men, young children and teens are trafficked across international borders each year…Most traffickers force their captives into the shadowy world of commercial sex and sex-related entertainment. Others press their victims into forced labor in homes, restaurants, agricultural fields, and sweatshops.	Pdf 88 kb
Socio-Economic Aspects of Reproduction	The economic approach to analyse the health care services system was used for many decades. Cost benefits (CB) studies were developed to evaluate the economic gain related to the expenditure for a specific treatment or health care method. The great challenge of those studies are how to quantify, for example, the life of a person, its health status or some morbidity condition, in order to compare the cost of a treatment to the benefit in terms of health, cure or death avoidance. How much is the cost of a woman’s life?"
Socio-economic Factors Associated with Premarital child bearing and Adolescents’ Age at first Motherhood	This paper focuses on adolescence sexual activity and child bearing before and after first marriage as well as socio – economic factors associated with their age at first childbearing. The paper observed a high rate of first premarital adolescent pregnancies among interviewed adolescent women in Tanzania. The paper furthermore found that premarital first pregnancies seem to be prevailing in most of the analysed sub-Sahara African countries in comparison with others in the developing countries. Literate adolescent women had a higher likelihood of having premarital sexual intercourse than illiterates. However, literacy raises age at first birth for adolescents. Literate adolescents, on the other hand, are more likely to be displeased with the timing of their first birth than illiterate adolescent women. The more years an adolescent attends school, the higher the age at first birth. An urban adolescent woman had a higher likelihood to experience premarital sexual intercourse than rural adolescents. Protestant unmarried adolescent women are less likely to experience sexual intercourse compared to Moslems. Moslem adolescents have the first birth earlier than Christians.	Pdf 104 kb
Stigma and Discrimination: Field Experiences and Research from Africa, Asia & Ukraine	“A woman will never decide to do the testing. If she finds herself HIV-positive she is signing three deaths: psychological death, social death & physical death. Don’t you think that is a lot?”
Stigma, discrimination and HIV/AIDS	Stigmatisation in many cases leads to discrimination, where people are attacked or treated badly purely on the basis of being positive. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, 2002), "the stigma and discrimination that people with HIV/AIDS face are unusually multiple and complex." It further states that "individuals tend not to be stigmatised and discriminated against only on the grounds of HIV/AIDS status, but also in accordance with what this connotes." Thus, women with HIV/AIDS may be doubly stigmatised both as 'women' and as 'people living with HIV/AIDS' when their identity becomes known or men who have sex with men living with HIV/AIDS may be stigmatised both because of their sexual practice and their status.
Survey on STI among female sex workers in 5 border provinces of Vietnam	Little is known about the true magnitude of STIs among female sex workers (FSWs) in Vietnam.
Survey Suggests Lack of Awareness Heightens Risk for Sexually Transmitted Diseases	New survey results unveiled today by the American Social Health Association (ASHA) - an organization dedicated to preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) -- suggest that lack of awareness may put Americans at risk for contracting STDs.
Swazis have sex workers covered	As awareness of the AIDS crisis breaks in Swaziland like a blinding dawn, measures that would have been unthinkable a year ago are now being initiated.
Teen Sex and Pregnancy	Most very young teens have not had intercourse: 8 in 10 girls and 7 in 10 boys are sexually inexperienced at age 15.The likelihood of teenagers' having intercourse increases steadily with age; however, about 1 in 5 young people do not have intercourse while teenagers. Most young people begin having sex in their mid-to-late teens, about 8 years before they marry; more than half of 17-year-olds have had intercourse. (Several graphs and tables are included in this report)
Teen sex stats shock	The survey of 580 children with an average age of 14 found that 20% said they had engaged in oral sex, compared to 14% who said that they had had sexual intercourse. In addition, one-third of the 14-year-olds said they intended to have oral sex within the next six months, and nearly a quarter planned to have intercourse during the same period.
Thai views of sexuality and sexual behaviour	Although women did not express negative views about marrying a virgin man, for most it seemed pointless to contemplate this. Indeed, many accepted the double standard implicit in the belief that men needed sexual experience before getting married. This was evident in their tolerance of husbands' prior visits to prostitutes. Women were also generally accepting of premarital non- commercial sexual relationships that their husbands might have had, although typically they expressed greater concern about prior affairs than about premarital patronage of prostitutes. Women's main interest in this connection was getting assurance that any earlier relationships were ended and would not resume.
The Challenge of Women’s Political Organizing in the Time of AIDS	High vulnerability to HIV and high rates of infection amongst women and girls is an entrenched part of the epidemiology of AIDS in Africa…despite our knowledge of ‘women’s vulnerability’, little seems to be done to overcome the social and political determinants of HIV infection in women.	Pdf 102 kb
The Demand Side of Trafficking? A Multi Country Pilot Study	This study initially set out to explore the demand for migrant sex and domestic workers….The research was thus limited and exploratory in nature, and its findings should be taken as at best suggestive, rather than conclusive.	Pdf 312 kb
The economics of the commercial sex industry	Commercial sex is ‘the sale of sexual intimacy’. Commercial sex is a service and the non-price determinants of the demand for commercial sex are the same as for other commodities or services” the number of potential consumers, their preferences and incomes, the prices of other commodities and services, and perhaps their expectations of future prices and income	Pdf 98 kb
The Effect of Abortion Legalization on Sexual Behavior: Evidence from Sexually Transmitted Diseases	The risk of an unwanted pregnancy represents one of the major costs of sexual activity. When abortion was legalized in a number of states during the late 1960s and early 1970s (and nationally with the 1973 Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade), this cost was reduced as women gained the option of terminating an unwanted pregnancy. We predict that abortion legalization generated incentives leading to an increase in sexual activity, accompanied by an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. Using CDC data on the incidence of gonorrhea and syphilis by state, we test the hypothesis that judicial and legislative decisions to legalize abortion lead to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases. We find that gonorrhea and syphilis incidences are significantly and positively correlated with abortion legalization. Further, we find a divergence in STD rates among early legalizing states and late legalizing states starting in 1970 and a subsequent convergence after the Roe v. Wade decision, indicating that the estimated correlation between STD rates and abortion legalization is a causal relationship. According to our estimates, abortion legalization might account for as much as one fourth of the average disease incidence, suggesting that sexual behavior is very responsive to changes in incentives.	Pdf 245 kb
The Gender and HIV /AIDS Technical Sub-Committee of the National AIDS Control Council	During the process of formulating the Kenya National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan, some of the gender dimensions of the epidemic had been recognized. It was noted that a striking feature of the epidemic was its impact on women as compared to men; the incidence of HIV/AIDS among women was rising at a shocking rate and women were being infected at an earlier age than men were
THE FORCED PROSTITUTION OF GIRLS INTO THE CHILD SEX TOURISM INDUSTRY	In 1989, the United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery⁽²⁶⁾ concluded that possibly millions of children around the globe are involved in prostitution.⁽²⁷⁾ In 1994, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), stated that in Asia, approximately one million children were participants in prostitution.⁽²⁸⁾ Asia, while predominating the child sex tourism market, is no longer alone: there are now growing industries in Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe
The Girls Next Door	In fact, the United States has become a major importer of sex slaves. Last year, the C.I.A. estimated that between 18,000 and 20,000 people are trafficked annually into the United States. The government has not studied how many of these are victims of sex traffickers, but Kevin Bales, president of Free the Slaves, America's largest anti-slavery organization, says that the number is at least 10,000 a year.
The health risks and consequences of trafficking in women and adolescents	Trafficking often has a profound impact on the health and well being of women. The forms of abuse and risks that women experience include physical, sexual and psychological abuse, the forced or coerced use of drugs and alcohol, social restrictions and manipulation, economic exploitation and debt bondage, legal insecurity, abusive working and living conditions, and a range of risks associated with being a migrant and/or marginalized.	Pdf 971 kb
The ‘healthy brothel’: the context of clinical services for sex workers in Hillbrow, South Africa	Sex workers are at considerable risk of infection from HIV and sexually transmitted infections. Public health messages provide information and skills for negotiating safer sex yet are not always realistic for women who earn a living from sex. Moreover, conventional health services often present barriers to sex workers seeking sexual and reproductive health care and treatment.
The IMAGE study: a cluster-randomised controlled trial to measure the impact on domestic violence and HIV risk of a combined microfinance and participatory training intervention	Power Point Presentation	933 kb
The Impact of Violence Against Women on Sexual and Reproductive Health	One of the most significant achievements of the last decade of the millennium has been the recognition given by the United Nations and a growing number of governments, including that of South Africa, that violence against women is a human rights issue. In 1993 the United National General Assembly adopted a declaration which for the first time offers an official UN definition of gender-based abuse
THE INVISIBILITY OF LESBIANS WITH AIDS	There is very little medical documentation of woman-to-woman sexual transmission of AIDS. But a significant number of women who identify primarily as lesbians have contracted AIDS through intravenous drug use or heterosexual sex.
The New T Visa-is the higher extreme hardship standard too high for Bona Fide Trafficking Victims?	Protection of victims is made nearly impossible if trafficked women first and foremost are punished as illegal aliens	Pdf 177 kb
The normalization of violence-conflict, rape and HIV/AIDS	Conflict and HIV are entwined as twin evils. War is the instrument of AIUDS and rape is an instrument of war.	93 kb pdf
The Girls Next Door	Who can expect a young woman trafficked into the U.S., trapped in a foreign culture, perhaps unable to speak English, physically and emotionally abused and perhaps drug-addicted, to ask for help from a police officer, who more likely than not will look at her as a criminal and an illegal alien? Even Andrea, who was born in the United States and spoke English, says she never thought of escaping, ??because what?s out there? What?s out there was scarier. We had customers who were police, so you were not going to go talk to a cop. We had this customer from Nevada who was a child psychologist, so you?re not going to go talk to a social worker. So who are you going to talk to???
The Political, Social, and Health Implications of	Trafficking of women and children in India has become a crisis affecting millions of girls and women. Their innate rights to health, development, and freedom are violated in all aspects by this crime imposed upon them	Pdf 261 kb
The Role of Sex Workers in Preventing Sexual Exploitation of Children	The laws are formulated to save the women from exploitation but in reality, the enforcers make their life hell by using the self same law. We save the women by putting them behind bars, punishing them with fines and beating them up for not wanting to be saved	Pdf 31 kb
The role of sexual dissatisfaction in driving Multiple Concurrent Partnerships	Power Point Presentation	551 kb
The Slave Trade is Back: Confronting Human Trafficking in Canada and Beyond	“Slavery is a weed that grows in any soil,” cautioned Edmund Burke. Even a quick skim through the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report is enough to demonstrate that modern-day slavery is thriving in countries as diverse as Cambodia and Costa Rica, India and Italy, as well as the Ukraine and the United States itself.
The Shadow Market in Human Beings-an anti-corruption perspective	“Can people really buy and sell women and get away with it? Sometimes I sit here and ask myself if that really happened to me, if it can really happen at all”	Pdf 247 kb
The Spread of HIV among Female IDUs in Southern Kyrgyzstan: Social and Psychological Factors And Limited Services	The primary goal of the study, which was conducted by investigating the social, psychological, medical, and legal needs of women drug users, was to produce specific recommendations on how to improve the conditions under which women live and create and/or modify prevention, treatment and care programs specific to the target group.
The Struggle Between Migration Control and Victim Protection-The UK Approach to Human Trafficking	Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purposes of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs	Pdf 244 kb
The Transnational Political Criminal Nexus of Trafficking in Women from Ukraine	Traffickers’ methods of operation are flexible and adapted to ease of recruiting victims, cooperation of corrupt officials, risk of being detected, and profit. In destination countries, victims are controlled by confiscation of travel and identity documents, debt bondage, threats and violence. Political components of the nexus include foreign governments that support NGOs that ignore the views of civil society in Ukraine, and instead, support the foreign governments’ positions on trafficking and prostitution, resulting in a corruption of civil society. Some foreign governments also support changes in laws that enable a legal flow of women into their sex industries.	81 kb pdf
Throwing the Dice-Pregnancy Decision-Making Among HIV-Positive Women in Four U.S. Cities	Although AIDS-related deaths among U.S. women have decreased, the number of HIV-positive women, especially of reproductive age, has increased. A better understanding of the interaction between HIV and family planning is needed, especially as antiretroviral medications allow HIV-positive women to live longer, healthier lives.
Teenagers traded for slave labour and sex	Today, a new international study reveals that Britain has become an easy target for child trafficking gangs.
The ‘So What?’ Report	A look at whether integrating a gender focus into programs makes a difference to outcomes	864 kb pdf
Trafficking and health	Trafficking in women and children is now recognised as a global public health issue as well as a violation of human rights.The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Traffickingin Persons, especially Women and Children states that traffickinginvolves force, threat, or fraud and intent to exploit individuals. Intermediaries often smuggle victims across international bordersinto illegal or unsafe occupations, including agriculture, construction,domestic labour, and sex work. A recent study identified traffickingto be associated with health risks such as psychological trauma,injuries from violence, sexually transmitted infections, HIVand AIDS, other adverse reproductive health outcomes, and substancemisuse.
Trafficking and the Global Sex industry: Need for Human Rights Framework	We are partners in a process. We know we have disagreements, but we have to find ways to dialogue and assist the UN mechanisms and bring in voices of women into the international arena. These are painful processes, but they are also learning processes. In order to find something precious out of the process, we may have to dig deep to find the pearls in the oysters. We should commit to this process for the women who are not here- those who have died, those who are still struggling, and those who can be empowered by this process	306 kb pdf
Trafficking for Prostitution in Italy	This article examines the insidious nature of prostitution and argues that it is impossible to combat trafficking where prostitution is legally sanctioned. Those who call for an end to the trafficking of women and children and yet support the legalization and thus the expansion of systems of prostitution send contradictory messages.	129 kb pdf
Trafficking in children in Asia: a Regional overview	The available research shows that the number of children trafficked-particularly for sexual exploitation-across South and South-East Asia is rising. It is unclear, however, whether this increase reflects better reporting and heightened awareness of the issue or an actual increase in the number of cases	139 kb pdf
Trafficking in Persons Report-June 2004 (Large report-increase download time)	We cannot truly comprehend the tragedy of trafficking in persons, nor can we succeed in defeating it, unless we learn about its victims: who they are, why they are vulnerable, how they were entrapped, and what it will take to free them and heal them	5,516 kb pdf
Trafficking in Politics: Bush's strong rhetoric on sex slavery masks policy failures	But four years into the anti-trafficking program, both evangelicals and feminists are disappointed with the results. Commercial sexual exploitation of women is on the rise globally, and in many cases the United States is driving, not stopping, the trend. Countries with the most severe trafficking problems have been ignored, while others appear to have been targeted for political reasons. And the economic plight of women who sell sex for money has been overshadowed by a sensationalized rhetoric of sin and redemption.
Trafficking in Women and Children-The US and International Response	The trafficking in people for prostitution and forced labor is one of the fastest growing areas of international criminal activity and one that is of increasing concern to the United States and the international community. The overwhelming majority of those trafficked are women and children. Between 700,000 and 4 million people are believed to be trafficked each year worldwide, some 50,000 to the United States.	Pdf 113 kb
Trafficking of Children in Indonesia	Trafficking of human being for whatever reasons is a gross violation of Human Rights. In this study, trafficking is understood as an act, which includes a component of recruitment and/or transportation of a person most often for exploitative labour by means of violence, threat, deception, or debt bondage.	646 kb pdf
TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN FOR SEXUAL EXPLOITATION IN THE AMERICAS	“We came to the United States to find a better future, not to be prostitutes. . . . No woman or child would want to be a sex slave and endure the evil that I have gone through. I am in fear for my life more than ever. I helped put these evil men in jail. Please help me. Please help us. Please do not let this happen to anyone else.”
The Clitoris, Culture and the Law	The main stumbling block to forming a consensus on the "moral underpinnings" of human rights between Western and Third World scholars takes shape under what is called 'culture.' Part of the reason for the international neglect of human rights abuse of women can be attributed to the cultural reasons advanced for abusive practices.
The Willow Program	Power Point Presentation about W=Women, I=Involved in, L=Life, L=learning from, O=Other, W=Women	200 kb
Theory of prostitution	This paper presents a model of prostitution as an economic activity characterized by stigma, whose supply is based on the availability of other earning opportunities. On the basis of available empirical evidence and findings from other studies, we put forward a rigorous economic analysis of the industry and its different markets making no restrictive assumption regarding the gender, pay and nature of forgone earning opportunities of the prostitute, and applying the same behavioural hypotheses to prostitutes and clients	74 kb pdf
Training Manual for Combating Trafficking in Women and Children	The manual was based on a particular training/workshop, which was focused on the return and the reintegration of trafficked persons. It does, however, include a general section on trafficking including some activities that are relevant to prevention of trafficking.	Pdf 373 kb
Transnational Activism to Combat Trafficking in Persons	This article would like to highlight three themes, which thread through the articles on trafficking in the previous issue of the Journal: sex trafficking versus labor trafficking, legalization versus abolition, and supply versus demand.	Pdf 86 kb
Trends in Reproductive Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices-Uganda.	This report presents finding from the 2000 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey for the districts served by the Community Reproductive Health Project.	Pdf 101 kb
Uganda: Domestic Violence worsens AIDS Battered Women Face Greater Vulnerability to HIV	The Ugandan government's failure to protect women from domestic violence and discrimination increases women's risk of contracting HIV, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today.
UNDERSTANDING MEN’S HEALTH AND USE OF VIOLENCE: INTERFACE OF RAPE AND HIV IN SOUTH AFRICA	South Africa has one of the highest rates of rape reported to the police in the world and the largest number of people living with HIV. The rate of rape perpetration is not known because only a small proportion of rapes are reported to the police. There is considerable concern about the links between these two problems. Obviously HIV can be transmitted in the course of rape and this compounds the human rights violation of the rape.	Pdf 94 kb
Understanding Power and creating spaces: Sex Workers’ Voices in HIV Prevention	The basic construct of prevention strategy is based on the understanding that if individuals are provided with information and means of prevention, they would be able to make reasonably correct decision and would be able to act based on their decision. The barrier to adopt safer sex-services is seen more of an aberration on the part of the individual and his/her risk taking practices. The major trend of these programs is to dissociate behavior from gender, occupation, economic condition, and livelihood option and for that matter the social identity of the individual.	41 kb pdf
Universal, Routine Screening of Pregnant Women for HIV infection	Perinatal transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from the HIV-infected mother to her infant is the principal cause of HIV infection in infants and children in the United States. Early in the HIV epidemic, it was proposed that mandatory screening of pregnant women for HIV infection might be appropriate to reduce the transmission rate.
Use of Lemon/Lime Juice Douching by Women To Prevent Infections and Pregnancy in Jos, Nigeria	Power Point Presentation concerning the use of Lemon/Lime Juice Douching	1708 kb pdf
Use of Maternity Register Data in Benin.	The guidelines emphasize the importance of using this series of indicators as a means of monitoring service availability, utilization of maternal health services, utilization of these services among those in need and quality of obstetric care	630 kb pdf
“Usually I just try to find passenger women. You know—women who don’t belong to anyone”: Men’s Extramarital Sexuality in Rural Papua New Guinea	Married women in rural Papua New Guinea are made vulnerable to HIV primarily through their husbands’ extramarital sexual liaisons. In order to understand married women’s risk it is therefore necessary to (1) elucidate men’s cultural constructions of the marital relationship, and (2) delineate the socio-economic factors that propel men’s extramarital sexuality. Drawing on six months of participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 40 married men, this paper shows that labor migration puts men in social contexts that encourage infidelity. Moreover, most men do not see fidelity as necessary for a successful marriage.	Pdf 590 kb
Using Rights and the Law to Reduce	Of the 34.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 1999, an estimated 24.5 million (71 percent) live in sub-Saharan Africa and about one in six (5.6 million) in South and Southeast Asia. Africa also accounted for about 67 percent of new infections in 1999, with S and SE Asia showing the highest regional increase. Women now represent 55 percent of people with HIV/AIDS in Africa. However, in both Africa and South and Southeast Asia, women and girls (15-24 years) experience the highest rates of infection
Voices for Dignity: A call to End the Harms Caused by Canada’s Sex Trade Laws (Large file-please allow extra time for download)	The sale of sexual services between consenting adults is legal under Canadian law…Over the past several years, the public has become increasingly aware of the issue of violence against sex workers	1321 kb pdf
Vulnerability and invisibility of women before HIV/AIDS: Constants and changes	This paper presents some thoughts on the problems endured by women facing HIV/AIDS. World and nationwide statistics show an upward trend of the epidemic among women, calling for the need to address this problem.	102 kb pdf
War and Women	The greatest casualties of modern war are non-combatant civilians. Among civilian casualties, women and girls are deliberately targeted and massively harmed by war. We are on the verge of a U.S.-led pre-emptive war against Iraq. With one exception, none of the U.S. administration protagonists has fought in a war. As one veteran recently wrote, “those who declare war should know [its price].” They should also know who pays the price.
Warrior Women, the Holy Spirit and HIV/AIDS in Rural Papua New Guinea	These understandings of sickness, its causes and transmission, are central to Gogodala perceptions of HIV/AIDS - the sickness that has no cure or medicine. The symptoms or signs of HIV/AIDS, gite tila gi aenaemi aenaemi, which literally locate its effects on and in the afflicted body, include a significant loss of weight, sores on the body, the darkening of the skin and loss of hair from the head, as well as chronic diarrhea. These symptoms are followed, inevitably, by death, thus distinguishing AIDS from other forms of sickness - as one person in late 2004 suggested: 'before this type of sickness, they [the patients] would last for a period [and then get better]. [In the case of AIDS], he or she automatically dies'.
We have AIDS-the role of gender	Women face extra challenges in fight against AIDS	771 kb pdf
WIDOWS, AIDS, HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA	We wish to draw the attention of governments to one vast category of women, struggling to survive across regions and cultures, who have been utterly neglected. They are the poorest of the poor, the most oppressed, violated and invisible and their voices are the most unheard. We are speaking of widows. Millions of widows are young mothers, some still children, all subject to extreme discriminatory practices and victims of neglect by governments. The gross human rights violations they experience in many areas of their lives have implications for the whole of society and development in general which cannot be ignored. Their poverty, often due to lack of inheritance and land rights or social support systems aggravates their vulnerability to violence. The huge increases in the numbers of widows due to AIDS, armed conflict and ethnic cleansing, has resulted in many millions of children being withdrawn from school because of destitution. The vulnerability of widows' daughters and child widows is especially severe, forcing them into unsuitable early marriage and early widowhood, life on the streets, prostitution and other high risk activities such as servile domestic service in the context of trafficking and HIV/AIDS infection. Governments have done little to ensure that widows obtain their human rights to inheritance and land ownership. They are accountable for omitting to protect widows from gross mental, physical and sexual abuse perpetrated for example, through coercive traditional practices such as degrading and life threatening mourning rites; or resulting from cruel accusations of witchcraft leading to their brutal murder. Across cultures widows are "chased off" from their homes, robbed of their property and have no access to justice systems because these violations occur within the private sphere of the family	Pdf 592 kb
Widow's death by stoning	The state government of India's Andhra Pradesh province is investigating the alleged stoning to death of an HIV-positive widow. The move comes after Aids rights campaigners worldwide condemned what they saw as government inaction over the report.
Women, HIV/AIDS and human rights	"Women must not be regarded as victims. They are, in many places, leading the way forward. In communities scattered around the globe, women and men are taking action to increase knowledge about the disease, expand access to sexual and reproductive health and educational services, increase women's ability to negotiate safer sexual relations, combat gender discrimination and violence and increase access to female-controlled prevention methods such as the female condom." Women and HIV/AIDS: Confronting the Crisis.
Women and addiction in the international literature: sex, gender and risks In French	The international literature on women and addictions is constituted by publications relating to sex, i.e. physiological differences on the effects of the use of psychoactive products on men or women, or publications on gender differences, i.e. on the social roles attributed to one gender or the other. Sex differences, consist mainly in physiological variations, such as corporal fluid volume, which causes a different impact of the substances on the metabolism, and also distinctions related to mental health. Gender differences reveal a stronger affective dependence among women, a greater impact of negative events from childhood as the origin of addictions and differences in accessing and using treatments. Risk-taking in addictive behaviours is also described as being more important in women than in men. Finally, two specific female problems are emphasised: prostitution and maternity, because these themes are recurrent in the literature reviewed.	pdf 431 kb
Women and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: The Issue of School Age Girls’ Awareness in Nigeria	This study was conducted to examine women and the HIV/AIDS epidemic: the issue of school age girls’ awareness in Nigeria information was elicited from 1,222 randomly selected regular under-graduate female students from the 11 faculties of the University of Lagos, Nigeria, with the use of a standardized structured questionnaire. Results of the major objective of the study, that is the level of HIV/AIDS awareness among female undergraduate students, showed a moderate level of awareness, including other specific objectives of age, level of study and marital status. In contrast, at the graduate level—the 600 level of study—medical students showed a high degree of awareness, and it was only divorce as a sub-variable of marital status that showed a low level of awareness. The paper then made some recommendations, that what is needed in Nigeria is to address the cultural, biological and socio-economic conditions contributing to women greater vulnerability to HIV/AIDS epidemic.	Pdf 80 kb
Women and HIV/AIDS in the United States	The HIV/AIDS epidemic is taking an increasing toll on women and girls in the United States. Women of color, particularly Black women, have been especially hard hit and represent the majority of new HIV and AIDS cases among women, and the majority of women living with the disease. Many women with HIV/AIDS are low-income and most have important family responsibilities, potentially complicating the management of their illness. Research suggests that women with HIV face limited access to care and experience disparities in access, relative to men.4,5,6,7 Women are also more biologically susceptible to HIV infection during sex, and experience different clinical symptoms and complications. Given these trends and issues, efforts to stem the tide of the U.S. HIV/AIDS epidemic will increasingly depend on how and to what extent its effect on women and girls is addressed.	Pdf 241 kb
WOMEN HIV AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE (Large file-increase download time)	Women around the world are threatened by HIV/AIDS on a scale unimagined twenty or even ten years ago. Roughly 18 million women are now living with HIV/AIDS—one million more than in 2003—according to UNAIDS. Long-term reversal of this trend is dependent on a thorough understanding of the factors—biomedical, behavioral, social, and cultural—that underpin the susceptibility of women to HIV infection and its consequences, and the development of gender-appropriate interventions to address them.	Pdf 1394 kb
Women and Girls Bear the Burden in ZIMBABWE	“I first knew of my HIV status when my husband got ill. We both went for HIV testing and we were counseled and given our results. We were both found HIV positive,” recalls the 35-year-old mother of three. “My husband got worse and finally died late last year. His relatives insisted that I should be inherited by one of his brothers. This is when I decided to tell them that I was HIV positive and that my husband had died of AIDS.”
Women and HIV	Power Point Presentation- Are Women more Biologically Vulnerable to HIV Infection?	93 kb
WOMEN AND HIV/AIDS - THE PERPETUAL BATTLE OF THE "BETTER HALF"s	"Though there has been some acknowledgement amongst Indian policy makers that women are a population at risk, there is little evidence to reflect that women's vulnerability to the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been understood and is being addressed."
Women and HIV/AIDS: The Barcelona Bill of Rights	As we enter the third decade of HIV/AIDS, women, especially the young and the poor, are the most affected. Because gender inequality fuels the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it is imperative that women and girls speak out, set priorities for action and lead the global response to the crisis.
Women and HIV/AIDS Concerns - a focus on Thailand, Philippines, India and Nepal	Women are frequently less educated than men. This disparity is critical because literacy rates for women are strong predictors of infant mortality rates and fertility decisions. Discrimination against the female gender begins during the pregnancy of the mother, as manifested in the high incidence of abortion of female fetuses. Female infanticide has been on the rise in many countries. Cultural preference for sons results in preferential allocation of family resources (food, schooling, health care) to them. Girls are allotted disproportionate burden of housework, which is a detriment to their self-esteem
Women Being Cheated into Marriage by HIV-Positive Men	Nambinga said he knew of some "girls who had undertaken to go for voluntary (HIV) tests when planning to get married. However, some of them have been betrayed by their fiancees".
Women, HIV/AIDS and human rights	"Women must not be regarded as victims. They are, in many places, leading the way forward. In communities scattered around the globe, women and men are taking action to increase knowledge about the disease, expand access to sexual and reproductive health and educational services, increase women's ability to negotiate safer sexual relations, combat gender discrimination and violence and increase access to female-controlled prevention methods such as the female condom."
Women’s Experiences with HIV-Serodisclosure in Africa (Large file-increase download time)	The studies indicate that women often disclose to multiple categories of people: some disclose to partners and family members, others disclose to female confidants, and others disclose in their social network. It is also clear that disclosure rates increase over time	Pdf 1239 kb
Women and Men of Property	The worst thing that could happen to a gentry family was biological nullity -- the family became extinct in children of either sex. No legitimate son or daughter survived the father or brother to inherit. Even without the added impact of the plague years, this occurred with remarkable frequency. In any given year before the Black Death, one out of twenty families of the wealthier gentry and also the nobility experienced extinction in direct succession.
Women, gender and HIV/AIDS Where are we now & where are we going?	UNAIDS, WHO and other organizations now speak about feminization of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, because an increasing proportion of people affected by HIV/AIDS around the world are female. They include adolescent girls, women of reproductive age and post-menopausal women, although most of the new infections are occurring in young adults. As increasing numbers of HIV-positive people gain access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), we may expect to see more and more youth who were infected perinatally surviving into adulthood, so that HIV/AIDS programmes will need to more explicitly address the needs of young people who begin puberty already living with HIV	Pdf 299 kb
Women in Nigeria: Religion, Culture, and AIDS	Nigeria has the fastest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in West Africa. In 1999, the prevalence of HIV among women attending antenatal clinics in Nigeria rose from less than 1% to 21%. Current projections show an increase in the number of new AIDS cases from 250,000 in the year 2000 to 360,000 by 2010. Women are reported to make up 60% of HIV/AIDS sufferers in the country. Reasons for this are not hard to come by.
Women's Roles and Demographic Change in Sub-Saharan Africa	The available evidence points to the need to empower women as well as men to gain access to needed resources, to make informed choices and to take effective action with respect to their reproductive and productive lives. Without such empowerment the innovations needed to lower rates of malnutrition, morbidity and mortality, to promote child survival and development are not likely to occur. There is evidence of the ability and efficacy of women's groups in adopting and adapting innovations which have the potential to profoundly affect economic and demographic outcomes. In a number of instances in different countries in the region women in rural and traditional areas - where fatalism and pronatalism persist - have been adopting new practices, thus showing the pervasiveness of latent demand for changes which will promote family wellbeing and survival.
Women’s sexual control within conjugal union: Implications for HIV/AIDS infection and control in a metropolitan city	This study attempts to examine the extent to which women have control over their sexuality within marriage and its implication for the spread of HIV/AIDS. The survey was carried out in metropolitan Lagos. The study shows that women have some control over their sexuality especially during certain occasions such as during menstruation, breastfeeding, pregnancy and when they are sick. However, only few women could negotiate with their husbands especially by insisting on safe sexual practices. The study therefore shows that women need to be educated on the need for safer sex practices, especially in this era of HIV/AIDS. They should also be economically empowered so as to practice safer sex. Again, men should be educated on the safer sex practices in other to control the spread of HIV/AIDS.	Pdf 174 kb
Young Women Living with HIV/AIDS Have Rights, Too	My story highlights some of the negative aspects and issues of being a woman living with HIV/AIDS. However, things are not all negative. It is possible to live a positive life with HIV and its stigma and discrimination; the obstacles can be overcome.
Young People and Prostitution from a Youth Service Perspective	"Prostitution is commonly defined as an activity where sexual acts are exchanged for payment. However, payment need not be a monetary transaction but could be a place to stay, something to eat, drugs or other payment in kind. Indeed a young person's introduction to prostitution may occur when he or she is without basic necessities and continuing involvement results when these needs are not met from elsewhere. Research has shown that for many children and young people on street, prostitution is a survival activity sometimes used in addition to theft and begging"

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