This paper reviews the situation of women and HIV/AIDS in Africa. It notes that African women are still not equipped to assert themselves in a world that men control the main factor influencing their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. This vulnerability to HIV/AIDS as well as the impact of the epidemic on womens lives nearly spans across their entire life. Statistics show that girls and young women have the highest and fastest growing rates of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. From this perspective four issues are considered as priorities for future efforts addressing the issue. These include: 1) the need to meet women where they are by recognizing the contexts in which they live; 2) the need to remember that women and men experience stigma differently; 3) the need to address gender inequities as they affect sexual behavior and resource access; and 4) the need to develop true partnerships between men and women in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Overall achieving partner transformation requires support at policy and community levels.
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Eka Esu-Williams (2000) studied this question.