Vectors, vessels and victims : Vecteurs, véhicules et victimes : le VIH/sida et les droits humains des femmes au Canada

This paper makes the case that while women in Canada may not suffer the extremes of subordination faced by many of their counterparts in other parts of the world, inequality and violations of women’s human rights still contribute to their vulnerability and to the challenges they face in seeking treatment for HIV/AIDS. [...] As in other parts of the world, women living in poverty, women who inject drugs, Aboriginal women, women in the sex trade, and many women who come from countries where HIV is endemic are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, but vulnerability extends to all women who may not be aware of their own risk and who day to day may not be able to control all of the elements that add up to safer sex or safe [...] The targetting of sex workers for the offence of “communicating in a public place for the purpose of prostitution” can mean that street-based sex work is carried on in ways that put women at greater risk of violence and of HIV/AIDS. [...] The excerpt below, a quotation from the “Human rights, women and HIV/AIDS” fact sheet of the World Health Organization,14 exemplifies points that appear often in United Nations and scholarly analyses of root causes of HIV/AIDS among women and of poor health outcomes among women living with HIV/AIDS: Women’s right to safe sexuality and to autonomy in all decisions relating to sexuality is respected [...] But is it right to assume that some of the same violations of the human rights of women that impede the struggle against HIV/AIDS in developing countries do not also undermine HIV/AIDS prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and support for women in Canada and other developed countries?