Why Women are more Vulnerabile to HIV Infection

1. Sexual transmission of the virus is several times more efficient from men to women than from women to men. Younger women are even more vulnerable as the tissue lining their genital tract is not fully developed, thus their thinner mucous membranes are less protective that that of older women. After menopause, the tissue lining again becomes thinner thus increasing the risk of HIV transmission in post-menopausal women.

2. Women suffer from more asymptomatic (showing no symptoms) sexually transmitted infections than men do. These infections often remain undiagnosed, which increases their risk of contracting HIV.

3. Young women and girls are culturally vulnerable to contracting HIV infection, as it is common for men to select significantly younger women as partners and wives. 4. Due to their economic, social and emotional dependence on men, it is difficult for women to refuse unsafe sex or negotiate safer sex. Thus, insisting that all women demand abstinence or refuse non-protected sex is not practical.

5. Double standards that encourage men to have many sexual partners are common, with the result that more women (even those that are monogamous) are placed at risk for infection.

6. Cultural expectations of female submissiveness and male dominance in sexual relations limit women’s ability to exert control over their sexual and reproductive health.

7. Poor communication between men and women concerning sexual and reproductive health matters, which result in the inability to foster shared responsibility in sexual and reproductive health decision-making.

8. Lack of an affordable, widely available, woman-controlled method of prevention. For all women, using male condoms or practising non-penetrative sex as a contraceptive method requires male co-operation, which implicitly means male control. Female condoms may give women more control over the protection of their sexual and reproductive health but also require male participation. Female condoms are not yet widely available and affordable in all developing countries.

Source: Dionne Patz, Rafael Mazin and Fernando Zacarias. Women and HIV/AIDS: prevention and care strategies. Washington, DC: PAHO, 2000.