Adolescent girls and young women across sub-Saharan Africa have been left behind in the HIV/AIDS response. Girls account for 75 percent of all new adolescent infections, and AIDS is their leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Girls and women are impacted by socio-economic and structural drivers, including poverty, gender inequality, lack of access to education, and sexual violence, that increase their risk for infection and decrease their ability to stay HIV free. Today, on the International Day of the Girl Child, let’s recommit ourselves to protecting girls and empowering them with every opportunity to thrive.
A disturbing number of women and girls experience sexual violence in their lifetime. Through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implements the Violence Against Children surveys which reveal that 1 in 4 girls have experienced sexual violence. In countries across sub-Saharan Africa, that number is even higher, reaching nearly 1 in 3 girls. And because language matters, let’s be clear: forced sex is sexual assault and rape, and has devastating physical, emotional and health impacts, including the possibility of pregnancy or HIV infection.
Gender-based violence limits women and girls’ ability to negotiate safe sexual practices, disclose HIV status, or access services due to fear of reprisal. Children who experience this violence are especially vulnerable, with less than five percent accessing services to help them recover. PEPFAR is working with partners around the globe to help girls and young women access resources and opportunities to stay safe and healthy.
We are reinvigorating our partnership with Together For Girls by supporting the Every Hour Matters (#EveryHourMatters) campaign to help survivors of sexual violence access rapid care. HIV infection can be prevented if survivors can access life-saving medication within 72 hours. Emergency contraception can help prevent a pregnancy if accessed within 120 hours. However, many survivors are unaware of the importance of these rapid services, or are unable to access them.
As part of PEPFAR’s investment in the health and safety of adolescent girls and young women, PEPFAR and private sector partners—the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Girl Effect, Johnson & Johnson, Gilead Sciences, and ViiV Healthcare—are driving an ambitious $385 million DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) partnership to reduce new HIV infections in adolescent girls living in the highest-burden areas of 10 African countries by 40 percent by the end of 2017. Through DREAMS, we are committed to making sure adolescent girls and young women are safe, and have access to quality post-rape care if they experience sexual violence. Our commitment to Every Hour Matters is driven by the Violence Against Children survey data and supports the DREAMS goal of increasing services for post gender-based violence care.
In addition to keeping girls safe, PEPFAR is committed to giving girls opportunities for education, particularly because data show that one additional year of secondary education for adolescents can reduce their HIV acquisition by one third. Through DREAMS, and in support of the Let Girls Learn (#LetGirlsLearn) initiative, PEPFAR is investing over $85 million to help girls remain in secondary school. Almost $10 million will pay school fees for 139,000 adolescent girls, and PEPFAR’s investment of $38 million will help over 915,000 students break down social barriers, such as pregnancy and HIV infection, that often keep adolescent girls out of the classroom. Additional funds through the DREAMS Innovation challenge will also support girls’ transition to and retention in secondary school. These investments are especially critical considering that the success of the Millennium Development Goals and high fertility rates has resulted in twice as many adolescent girls and young woman living in sub-Saharan Africa than two decades ago. We must give each of these girls the chance to live her dreams of a healthy, empowered life.
Today, on the International Day of the Girl Child, over 1,000 girls and young women will be newly infected with HIV, 7,000 this week and 390,000 by the end of this year. This is unacceptable. That’s why this year the United States State Department released the first-ever U.S. Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls, and just last week launched the #DadsandDaughters campaign to ignite conversations about gender equality. Working in partnership, we must all commit ourselves to deliver on the promise of a safe future where every girl has the chance to live an empowered and healthy life. We must breathe life into our words of concern and compassion, and translate them into immediate and decisive action. Only then, working together, can we deliver on the full power of their meaning. Girls and young women deserve nothing less.