Publications

This policy brief presents shortcomings in realizing the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR)
of women living with HIV in Uganda. It is informed by findings of a study – “Sexual Reproductive Health
and Rights Violations of Women Living with HIV in Clinical and Community Settings in Uganda” that was
carried out by International Community of Women Living with HIV Eastern Africa (ICWEA) in 2014/15.
Women and HIV Uganda has one of the highest rates of HIV worldwide, with 7.3% national prevalence rate against 8.3% for
women.
Biological, social and cultural factors all contribute to women’s heightened vulnerability to the HIV infection.
Physiologically, women are two to four times more susceptible than men to contract HIV and social/
cultural factors – including gender-based violence, entrenched gender stereotypes, power dynamics within relationships and economic dependence – increase women’s risk of contracting the virus.
Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights of Women Living with HIV Human rights standards recognize that women living with HIV have a right to contraception and other reproductive health services on the same grounds as all other women. These standards state that safe and affordable means of contraception should be available and that women should have the right to
freely choose or refuse family planning services (including sterilization services). They require that healthcare providers should be non-coercive and respectful of autonomy, privacy and confidentiality, and that reproductive freedom should not be restricted as part of a family planning, HIV prevention or other public health agenda.