Addressing Gender-Based Violence and HIV/AIDS in Tanzania

The Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published a new report that explores the dual global epidemics of HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence (GBV), the destructive and disproportionate impact on women and girls, and the work of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief’s (PEPFAR) GBV initiative to address this dual epidemic. The report examines the implementation of the GBV initiative in Tanzania, one of the GBV focus countries.

Excerpt from a post on the Smart Global Health blog about the new report:

The GBV Initiative, which focuses on Tanzania, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is a U.S. government interagency effort to integrate activities to address GBV into existing HIV programs at the health facility and community levels, as well as at the national policy level. The initiative stems from a global body of research showing a strong and complex set of linkages between GBV and HIV, with violence being both a risk factor for HIV acquisition as well as a consequence of being HIV-infected. Recent country-level studies reveal that women who experience violence in relationships face a four-fold higher risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, emphasizing the urgency of addressing these mutually reinforcing epidemics.

Read the full blog post here.

Read the full report here.