Living Scars

Living Scars

The painful cries of women all throughout Africa is heard as a result to AIDS. Every day hundreds of women in Africa get infected with this virus, and it’s almost impossible to keep track of all of them. Many don’t even know they’re infected, and the ones who do ignore the fact that they are. The AIDS crisis is slowly taking over Africa, and the women in particularly are suffering the most. The female population are more susceptible to AIDS, because they have close to no education on the subject, and they have to suffer through gender-based violence

Although AIDS in women is caused by many things, the lack of education in Africa is one of the primary factors that leads up to the infection of AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa the poverty levels are so high that 80 percent of the women living there have not completed secondary school and a third of them can’t even read (Board). This is a huge contributor to the growing numbers of women that fall victim to AIDS, because they aren’t getting the necessary education that prevents them from getting infected. A lot of the women aren’t even aware of what the virus is, and what could be done to stop them from getting infected, in fact around 28 percent of the women in sub-Saharan Africa fit into this category (Women). If a woman doesn’t even know what a condom does, what is the likelihood that she will use it? The lack of sex-ed doesn’t allow women to have a voice, to say no, and to have knowledge about how a sexual encounter can affect them.

A second factor that contributes to the infection of AIDS in women, is the amount of gender-based violence that takes place in Africa. The communities have come to accept the male behaviour that promotes their power over women, which most of the times ends in violence. Actions that show male dominance have also come to be accepted by the women, which means that the lines between right and wrong have been blurred along the way (Fustos). Due to the lack of knowing what is right and what is wrong, women aren’t even aware that what their partner is doing is not morally and physically correct. Most women think that it is normal to be denied the use of condoms, or to be forced into sex just because their partner feels like it. This forced sex is one of the main contributors to AIDS found in women all over Africa (Cullinan). Gender-based violence has damaged the chances of women even having a chance of being healthy and happy. It has ripped the rights that these women fully deserve, and in it’s path it has left pain and suffering.

Nonetheless, charities and foundations are being formed to help these women. They’re working on providing women with a good education that gives them awareness on this subject, and they’re trying to make people in communities be aware that what they’re doing is not right. Improvement has definitely happened throughout the years, and a better future could be seen for incoming generations. Women can start healing and they can start trying to forget the horrors they’ve lived through. However the scars and pain that AIDS has left on these women will never disappear. It’ll be kept alive as long as the women that have suffered remain living. These living scars will be permanent and no amount of foundations and charities will be able to remove them.

Works Cited

Board, Editorial. "Helping Women in Africa Avoid H.I.V." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.

Cullinan, Kerry. "In Africa, AIDS Often Has a Woman's Face | Africa Renewal Online." UN News Center. UN. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

Fustos, Kate. "Gender-Based Violence Increases Risk of HIV/AIDS for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa." Gender-Based Violence Increases Risk of HIV/AIDS for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.

"Women and HIV/AIDS | AVERT." Women and HIV/AIDS | AVERT. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.