HIV continues to take a heavy toll on women and girls. Every week, 4,000 young women and girls around the world are newly infected with HIV – 3,100 of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Violence against women and girls, which increases the risk of HIV for women by 50 per cent, remains pervasive, with no country within reach of eradicating it. Restrictions on young women’s bodily and economic autonomy further exacerbates their risk of infection.
The solutions are clear. To end the HIV epidemic, we must prioritize the rights, health, and agency of women and girls in all their diversity. Women and girls need access to HIV prevention methods that they can afford and control. The new twice-yearly injection with 100 per cent efficacy holds transformative potential. But prevention must be paired with accessible care, psychosocial support, and laws rooted in gender equality and human rights.
