a very basic right

How to battle against the spread of HIV? Sadly it turns out that just teaching people about how HIV spreads is not enough. Why? Because it assumes that the women involved in any relationship have the power to say 'no.' Here is an example of how HIV spreads: a wife may be aware that her husband is infected, yet she will agree to dangerous sex with him because she fears he will deny her access to her own children. This happens all the time because in many societies a mother does not have the right to her own offspring. As soon as she gives birth, her child 'belongs' to her husband and his family. If she wants to keep seeing and being with her child, she is effectively at the mercy of the child's father. She has almost no power with which to negotiate. Hence the futility of telling people to abstain, when the woman has almost no rights whatsoever. There is a very fundamental problem underlying the social symptoms of powerlessness such as HIV and domestic abuse, etc. Women's status is very low, even in countries that pay lip service to women's rights, and where the government has enshrined women's rights within its constitution. The reality at village level among uneducated people is that women are unaware of their rights. Yet another reason to bring women one of the greatest gifts - literacy. That's why we are so proud of the partners with whom we work in Africa. They are providing women with the building blocks to realise their own potential and to take control of their lives.