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HIV AND AIDS
Research | Insight | Action & Advocacy | Projects
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The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to take a brutal toll on women and girls, whose low status due to gender inequality remains a principal driver of the epidemic. Women's vulnerabilities — including gendered power differentials and biological vulnerabilities — are great obstacles to accessing HIV/AIDS prevention information, treatment and care.
Our research is helping to turn the tide against AIDS.
Research
ICRW was one of the first organizations to focus on the rapid spread of HIV and AIDS among women in developing countries. Our first research program on women and AIDS in the early 1990s examined the social, economic and gender factors fueling the spread of HIV and AIDS among women in 15 countries.
Today we continue to push the AIDS agenda forward, leading the way with research on HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and collaborating with partners to ensure safe and representative HIV vaccine trials.
Researchers also are exploring how property and inheritance rights for women may be a protective factor against the consequences of HIV, helping women and families cope when a family member is positive. Another program is exploring the relationship between nutrition, food security and HIV and AIDS, showing how the different sectors can work collaboratively to be more effective. ICRW and our partners also recently developed a toolkit for community-based organizations to tackle issues around gender-based violence and HIV stigma.
Insight
We now know the different ways in which gendered imbalances of power and resources between women and men increase women's risk and vulnerability to HIV. ICRW is working with in-country partners worldwide to devise tools and strategies to integrate gender into programs that fight HIV and AIDS.
ICRW has crafted original community-based tools to help reduce HIV- and AIDS-related stigma. By increasing community understanding of HIV and AIDS, myths are put to rest, people become less fearful, and women and girls are empowered to make independent decisions about their health.
Other ICRW projects work with large organizations, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Care International, U.K.'s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to integrate gender into their global prevention, treatment and care programs.
Action & Advocacy
In recent years, awareness among policy-makers and the public of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on women and girls has risen dramatically. ICRW is working with coalitions and various U.S. government offices to ensure that funding for HIV and AIDS goes to programs that find gender-equitable solutions for prevention and treatment.
Our advocacy team ensures that the voices of women are heard on Capitol Hill. We are currently advocating for several bills that would empower and protect women and girls. Learn more on our advocacy page.
Related Projects
Photo Credit:
73910762 Ludovic Maisant/ courtesy of Getty Images



Analysis by ICRW stigma expert Laura Nyblade and ICRW partner Virginia Bond shows that patients who exhibit visible TB symptoms often face stigmatizing behavior similar to that faced by people with HIV, such as being ostracized, publicly humiliated and shunned by family and friends.