Despite campaigns to reduce the spread of HIV and its impact on society, it is indisputable that HIV and AIDS have assumed the face of a woman in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Lack of autonomy for women has resulted in the continued spread of the pandemic, which in turn has increased the threatening of their livelihoods and their vulnerability to gender-based violence. Inititated by Caroline Sand
e, formerly Country Director of Action Aid International South Africa (AAISA), the Mutapola Framework was developed as a direct response to increasingly visible gaps in the laws and cultural practices, that deny women the enjoyment of fundamental and globally accepted rights. The dynamic Mutapola Framework proffers appropriate interventions for women in the context of HIV and AIDS. It touches all facets of the pandemic from a women’s rights perspective, through its four pillars :
>> Rights to comprehensive prevention, treatment, care and support
>> Sustainable livelihoods
>> Freedom of association and voice
>> Enabling policy environment
