About 500 women from more than 30 sub-Saharan countries are taking part in a 4-day conference in Burkina Faso on violence against women and women’s access to HIV treatment.

From yesterday’s AFP story:

“There is no doubt that lots of human rights violations characterise the (HIV/AIDS) pandemic,” said Bernice Heloo, president of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA).

“Women are the ones who most severely bear brunt of human rights abuse, have been prone to violences and other atrocities related to their gender and seropositive status.

“Many women have been driven from their marital homes, stripped of their hard-earned possessions and separated from their children and people they love,” she told a conference attended by Burkina Faso Prime Minister Tertius Zongo.

She urged the international community to lend their technical and financial support to “strengthen the battle against gender inequality in Africa, a key factor in the spread of the pandemic and to contribute to the promotion of human rights for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.”

Read the full piece here.