Women whose partners fall sick and die due to AIDS-related illnesses often suffer discrimination, abandonment, and violence. So do women who are suspected of having HIV themselves. In some places, women lose their homes, inheritance, possessions, livelihoods and even their children when their husbands die. Such insecurity forces many women to adopt survival strategies that increase their chances of contracting HIV.
Research suggests that women who have secure access to, ownership and control over land and other assets are better able to avoid relationships that threaten them with HIV, and to manage the impact of AIDS.
National governments and international partners need to ensure that legal systems uphold women’s property and inheritance rights through the establishment, reform, and enforcement of laws, and harmonization of statutory and customary laws.
At the same time, more support is needed for community-based initiatives that provide legal advice and skills training to protect women’s property and inheritance rights.
