“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?” -Woman, Burkina Faso-
The rights & choices of HIV-positive women are repeatedly ignored or denied
Policy frameworks to support their rights are often weak; and the needs of HIV-positive women are almost always secondary to the rest of the community
Stigma was reported everywhere to be more directed at women
Stigma surrounding MTCT prevents women from accepting testing and negatively impacts their quality of family life
In many cases, once a woman is diagnosed as HIV-positive, she faces rebuke or condemnation for wanting a child, and often is denied the right to make her own reproductive choices
The “M” in PMTCT can foster incorrect perceptions that a women is solely at fault in transmitting HIV to her baby
In some cases this enables the partner & family to refuse responsibility in providing care & support to mother & child
Many communities assume HIV-positive women must be promiscuous, making it impossible for many women to remain in their communities where they may have better access to home-based care & support, pushing them into urban poverty & often into sex work In some communities, women who do not breastfeed their child are now assumed to be HIV-positive
For more information, contact: Waithira Gikonyo Programme Communication Officer wgikonyo@unicef.org OR Shari Cohen PMTCT Communication Consultant scohen@cts.com
