Top reason women die: AIDS

Image courtesy: ©Thinkstock

According to a study by UNAids, up to 70% women in the world are forced to have unprotected sex and such violence against women should not be tolerated.

At the start of a 10-day conference in New York, UNAids launched a five-year action plan addressing the gender issues which put women at risk. "By robbing them of their dignity, we are losing the opportunity to tap half the potential of mankind to achieve the Millennium Development Goals," said Executive Director Michel Sidibe.

"Women and girls are not victims, they are the driving force that brings about social transformation," he said.

According to the agency, women inflicted by violence are not able to negotiate safe sex. It has been nearly 30 years since the epidemic began and yet, HIV services do no respond to needs of women and girls.

Women from around the world continue to be affected by HIV/AIDS disproportionately. In sub-Saharan Africa, 60% of those living with HIV are women and in Southern Africa, young women are about three times as likely to be infected with HIV than young men.

The programme will include data about how the epidemic affects women and how violence towards women and them getting affected by AIDS are inter -related.