AIDS-related anti-violence programs failing

By Cameron French

TORONTO (Reuters) - Nearly half of girls in some African countries are raped, an advocacy group said on Thursday in a report that sharply criticizes existing programs aimed at curbing violence to help stop the spread of AIDS.

"Like HIV/AIDS, violence is taking place on an epidemic scale, and as that occurs, it fuels the HIV/AIDS pandemic," said Lisa Schechtman, lead author of the report by the Washington-based Global AIDS Alliance.

Speaking at the 16th International Conference on AIDS, Schechtman said global donors needed to stop looking at the issue of violence as separate from AIDS.

With studies showing rampant levels of violence against women and children -- much of it sexual in nature and particularly common in several east African countries -- the group urged donors to take a more social approach to funding.

According to studies cited by the group, nearly one in two girls has been raped in Uganda, and the rate is also extremely high in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Other surveys show links between violence and the AIDS epidemic, as women who have experienced violence may be up to three times more likely to get HIV.

Groups such as the World Bank, the U.N. AIDS agency UNAIDS, and the U.S. PEPFAR AIDS relief program have promised to address the issue. But Global AIDS Alliance said the pledges have been inadequate and little work has been done.

"As African women, we are enraged by the HIV/AIDS policies, programming and funding, and this is basically because of not integrating violence against women," Mary Wandia, women's right's coordinator for the South Africa-based anti-poverty group Action Aid, told a news conference.

"For African women, we go through violence throughout our life cycle."

The Global AIDS Alliance said it wants political leaders and donor groups to devote at least $2 billion per year to combating violence against women and children.

Paul Zeitz, the group's executive director, said what was needed are more laws to criminalize violence against women and children, health and education reform, and the establishment of community task forces to speak out against violence in their communities.

The AIDS virus currently infects about 39 million people worldwide and has killed 25 million people since it was identified 25 years ago.