On World AIDS Day: Rape, HIV, and Lingering Genocide in Rwanda
Published December 01, 2008 @ 12:47PM PT
Just for kicks, I Googled "AIDS and Genocide." The first site on the list claims to be "a presentation of research into the links between neo-Nazi groups, the CIA, the Knights of Malta, and Africa's demise." I didn't bother clicking the link.
But in all seriousness, and because social issues do not exist in silos, I think it only appropriate to commemorate both World AIDS Day and the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence with a discussion of their overlap with genocide.
The use of rape as a tool of genocide and war is becoming increasingly popular at an alarming rate. Hundreds of thousands of women were brutally gang raped as part of a systematic policy during the Rwandan genocide, with nearly two-thirds of the survivors contracting HIV as a result. As an article at PeaceWomen.org notes, the transmission of HIV through rape was a sometimes even a conscious effort on the part of the perpetrator:
Based on the testimony of victims such as Jeanne, who was raped by a man who clearly told her "I have AIDS and I want to give it to you," Radhika Coomaraswamy, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, maintains that "many women like Jeanne have survived the genocide but are infected with AIDS."
And, as always, one problem compounds another: Mother-to-child transmission of HIV continues to spread the disease, though much progress has been made in the effort to curb this occurrence, and the deaths of genocide survivors due to HIV/AIDS further expands Rwanda's already substantial population of orphans.
The good news, however, is that awareness of the problems has prompted significant strides towards providing treatment and care. More and more children are have access to treatment, and Rwanda is one of the US government's 15 focus countries for PEPFAR funding.
But then there's the bad news: Rape is currently deployed as a weapon in the ongoing conflicts raging in Darfur and the DRC, and the victimized women are sure to suffer similar fates as those in Rwanda. And given the massive numbers of women subjected to rape and conflict, any viable strategy for the reduction of HIV infection rates must take conflict resolution into consideration.
[Photo: Rwandan genocide survivor Athanasie Mukarwego.]
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Michelle became involved in the anti-genocide cause at a young age, and has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns, ever since.
