“Ending violence against women is not only a basic human right need, but also it is crucial to ending AIDS”- these were the words of Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, on International Women's Day 2013.

Violence against women has been occurring worldwide for thousands of years. Even in so-called enlightened countries, such as the UK and USA, it was not until recently that wives were not seen as a husband's possession. Currently, according to UNAIDS, up to 7 in every 10 women globally suffer violence from men in their lifetime. It is often impossible for women to negotiate for safe sex if they live in such environment. Also, women who live with HIV are frequently much more vulnerable to violence, which can be an obstacle to getting the HIV care and treatment they need.  

Sidibé said: "Only when we value a women’s health as highly as a men’s and provide people of both sexes to have access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support  –  only then we can have a chance at ending this epidemic.      

The message that violence against women is a serious obstacle to stopping the HIV/AIDS pandemic is repeated every year. We at DAA are repeating it every day through our articles and our mission and will continue to do the same in the future.

Watch the video message from Michel Sidibé here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=brfZTyppNH8