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© 2004 Maggie Langins, Courtesy of Photoshare
 
 
 
 
 
 


RESEARCH PRIORITIES:
Women, Girls, and HIV/AIDS
Selecting abstracts to prioritize women and girls as agents and subjects of research

ATHENA: Advancing Gender Equity and Human Rights in the Global Response to HIV/AIDS
Blueprint for Action on HIV and Women in Canada

 
© 2005 Linda Vandamme, Courtesy of Photoshare.
  1. Priority given to scientific (clinical, behavioral, or basic) abstracts and presentations that address

    1. Number of women in the study sample.
    2. Age range of women or girls in the study sample
    3. Methods for inclusion (or reasons for exclusion)
    4. Sex-based analyses performed (whether presented here or not)
    5. Plans for follow up or special considerations for further research to address this topic in women or girls

  2. Abstract selections that mirror the global face of the pandemic.
    1. Half of the people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide are women, therefore at least half of
      the presentations focused on scientific and non-scientific questions should be directly
      relevant to women living with HIV/AIDS globally
    2. Include an explicit gender-based perspective.
  3. Research by women, especially women living with HIV/AIDS
  4. Inclusion of women and girls in research design, implementation, analysis, and dissemination
  5. Involvement of women and girls as research participants
    Statistically significant numbers of women or girls in clinical trials
  6. 6. Analysis and commentary on research results relative to and relevant for women and girls
  7. Translation of research findings into practical, appropriate, and feasible interventions or policies for women and girls affected and infected by HIV/AIDS

Selecting abstracts relevant to improving the lives of women
and girls through the dissemination of best practices

 
  1. Models of comprehensive prevention approaches
  2. Programs and practices that seek to involve boys and men in prevention, are, and treatment
  3. Programs and policies that enhance women’s access to female controlled prevention methods
    including female condoms and microbicides
  4. Models of testing, diagnosis, and disclosure for women and girls addressing risks such as
    violence, abandonment, and disinheritance
  5. Models for coordinating and facilitating access to education, treatment, and support for women and girls living with HIV
    1. Models for expanding treatment for women and girls beyond the perinatal setting
    2. Models for treatment literacy
    3. Models for psychosocial support
  6. Models for care.
    1. Supporting care-givers
    2. Supporting child-headed households
    3. Enhancing community based support
  7. Models for linking reproductive and sexual health with HIV/AIDS
    1. Programs that are integrating reproductive health with HIV prevention or treatment
  8. Models for implementing rights-based approaches
  9. Models of legal reform and for legal services
  10. Models for addressing violence and HIV/AIDS
  11. Models for community building, networking, and information exchange.
    1. Models for advocacy
    2. Models for leadership training.
  12. Models of skills training, income-generation, or micro-credit
  13. Models for the involvement of women and girls, especially those living with HIV/AIDS, in
    research, policy, and programs
  14. Models for women’s participation in governance

Selecting abstracts to address priority substantive areas

Specific populations
  1. Married women
  2. Older women
  3. Women of reproductive and productive age
  4. Adolescents and children
  5. Female injecting drug users and female sexual partners of injecting drug users
  6. Women who have sex with women
  7. Sex workers.

Prevention and diagnosis
  1. Emphasis on comprehensive prevention methods including female controlled methods.
  2. Prevention methods for women living with HIV/AIDS
  3. Mental health outcomes and care
  4. Harm reduction approaches
  5. Testing.
    1. Expanding voluntary testing and counseling so that women are reached outside the setting of pregnancy
    2. Reaching more men
    3. Implications of provider-initiated testing for
      1. Pre- and post-test counseling
      2. Informed consent
      3. Confidentiality
      4. Access to health services
      5. Stigma and discrimination
  6. Disclosure
    1. Stigma and discrimination
    2. Violence
    3. Family dynamics
  7. Prevention of transmission to children.
    1. Prevention of parent to child transmission
    2. Implications of breastfeeding versus formula
    3. Prevention of child sexual abuse

Care, treatment, and support
  1. Disaggregated data by sex and age
  2. Antiretroviral treatment access beyond the perinatal setting
  3. Understanding barriers to and facilitators of treatment and care.
    1. Violence
    2. Economic disempowerment
    3. Social support.
  4. Access for marginalized populations such as drug users or sex workers
  5. Adherence
  6. Treatment literacy
  7. Participation of women in clinical trials
  8. Side effects and implications of treatment for women and children
    1. Physiological
    2. Psychological
  9. Home based care

Integrating reproductive and sexual health
  1. Reproductive choice.
    1. Pregnancy and assisted reproduction for women living with HIV/AIDS
    2. Adoption by persons living with HIV/AIDS
    3. Access to reproductive health information and contraceptives
    4. Safe induced abortion and emergency contraception
    5. Negative consequences of forced abortion and sterilization.
  2. Comprehensive sexuality education for all women and girls, irrespective of age
  3. Involvement of boys and men.
    1. Male responsibility, especially in ABC.
  4. Sexuality.
    1. Sexual orientation.
      1. Women who have sex with women
      2. Female partners of men who have sex with men
      3. MSM responsibility toward female partners.
    2. Sexual pleasure, especially for women living with HIV/AIDS.
  5. Implications of HIV testing in the perinatal setting
  6. HIV prevention methods that.
    1. Permit conception
    2. Work for women living with HIV/AIDS
  7. Incidence and prevalence of forced/coerced abortion or sterilization for women living with HIV/AIDS
  8. Sexual violence and access to.
    1. Post exposure prophylaxis
    2. Emergency contraception
    3. Access to care and treatment for trauma.
  9. Denial of services to women living with HIV/AIDS/restrictions on services
  10. Effect of antiretroviral therapy on reproductive health throughout the life cycle: pubertal
    development, fertility, pregnancy, peri-menopausal period

Social vulnerability
  1. Gender in/equity
  2. Education
  3. Empowerment
  4. Identity
    1. Gender
    2. Sexual.
  5. Poverty.
    1. Economic survival and viability of women living with and vulnerable to HIV/AIDS
    2. Income generation and micro-credit.
  6. Belief systems and traditional practices.
    1. Female genital cutting
    2. Dry sex
    3. Bride price
    4. Polygamy
    5. Sex with virgins
    6. Widow cleansing
    7. Virginity testing.
  7. Violence: domestic, sexual, and gender-based
  8. Social disruption
    1. Prevention and care in conflict areas

Law, policy, and human rights
  1. Role of law and legal rights.
    1. Right to education and information
    2. Child custody and legal adoption by people living with HIV
    3. Property rights
    4. Inheritance rights
    5. Age of legal marriage
    6. Marital rights
    7. Divorce
    8. Social services and benefits, such as housing or insurance
    9. Violence and rape
  2. Role of law reform, litigation, and legal services
  3. Role of advocacy and leadership
  4. Impact of funding
    1. Evaluation of funders and funding mechanisms
    2. Implications of funding conditionalities such as those addressing
      1. Abortion
      2. Prostitution/sex work
      3. Abstinence-only sex education
      4. Harm reduction strategies