Women Out Loud: New UNAIDS/UNWomen Publication Cites Our Chanura Kol Project

indiaaidsalliance 13 December, 2012

UNAIDS and UN Women recently released Women Out Loud, a new report on women living with HIV and the key role that they play in ending the epidemic. A UNAIDS feature on the document’s release notes the following:

In a new report, entitled Women Out Loud, UNAIDS explores the impact of HIV on women and the instrumental role women living with the virus are playing to end AIDS. It includes the latest data and commentary from some of the leading advocates on women and HIV.

The report includes the voices of some 30 women living with HIV who have given their personal insights into how the epidemic is affecting women and on how women are actively working to reduce the spread and impact of AIDS.

HIV is continuing to have a disproportionate effect on the lives of women. It is still the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age, and gender inequalities and women’s rights violations are persistent in rendering women and girls more vulnerable to HIV and preventing them from accessing essential HIV services…

Marginalised women remain the most impacted by HIV

Sex workers and people who use drugs are particularly vulnerable to HIV. When sex is exchanged for money or drugs, women often exert little influence over a partner’s condom use. Female sex workers are 13.5 times more likely to be living with HIV than other women. Some countries reported an HIV prevalence of more than 20% among female sex workers in capital cities. Studies conducted in nine European Union countries have indicated on average a 50% higher prevalence of HIV among women who inject drugs than in men who inject drugs.

On page 21 of the report in the chapter on people who use drugs, the following point is made: “Women who use drugs are widely reported to experience disproportionate levels of stigma and discrimination, often compounded during pregnancy, and as mothers.” One of the three references for this observation is In the Shadows, the baseline findings report from our Chanura Kol project.
India HIV/AIDS Alliance is grateful to UNAIDS and UN Women for this citation of our work. Many thanks to the Chanura Kol team and particularly to our implementing partners, SASO and Shalom, for their many contributions to the report and to the project overall. To read more about our baseline findings, click here or on the report cover below.

Chanura Kol is funded by the Elton John AIDS Foundation and serves to expand interventions to decrease HIV transmission and reduce drug relapse among women who inject drugs. Based on a holistic and sustainable approach, the project was initiated in 2010 to address the root causes of vulnerability and the primary causes of relapse post-detoxification for women who inject drugs in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, many of whom are also sex workers. Chanura Kol provides these women with long-term shelter, creates opportunities for income generation outside of sex work, and helps them rebuild family relationships.
Chanura Kol is one of a handful of efforts in the region to address the distinct needs of women who inject drugs and reduce their vulnerability to HIV. To learn more, please see a recent slide show about the project:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO0kfUI3CWc&w=560&h=315]

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