Is this possible? Could a community, a generation or a gender honestly believe that women who contract HIV or are raped brought it upon themselves? I am at a loss on how best to report on this subject so let’s start with the facts.

21-year old Regina Joseph was beaten by a group of men on the street of Tanzania’s Mkinga District and forced to remove her clothes because it was their way of “punishing her for allegedly dressing in an alluring way with the intention of passing on the HIV virus.” (They had no knowledge of her HIV status).
Community health workers in Mkinga are trying to change the methods the male elders of their community are using to fight HIV. The elders believe the best way to reduce the spread of HIV is to go back to their ancient cultural values and they are encouraging their communities to punish “inappropriately” dressed women. They go on to say that men would not stray from their wives if women dressed more plainly which in turn would reduce the cases of new HIV infections.

Strong moral values are an essential part of a healthy community, however, all data suggests that how a woman dresses has nothing to do with the spread of HIV. Men must be brought into the dialogue to understand and accept their role in perpetuating this deadly disease In the U.S. we would not tolerate this type of punishment nor would we excuse a gender-based hate crime of this nature. Could you imagine your daughter, niece or sister being accosted on the street the way Regina was? It is a travesty that this example has to demonstrate the enormous lack of women’s rights in Africa. The stigmas associated with AIDS are still tremendous, and many women in parts of Africa are treated like outcasts when they are only “believed” to have HIV. When they actually do contract the disease they lose their jobs and their ability to support their families.

Education is the key to reducing HIV infection and cases of discrimination against women. If you are like me and stories like Regina’s leave you feeling as though you must make a difference, you can support Just Like My Child’s successful program to teach men and women in rural communities about human, children’s and women’s rights through our life-empowering program, Project Justice. We need your help. Please make a difference by visiting: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=26195&Itemid=108

Click here to read the full article about Regina Joseph.