Women living with HIV in EECA region demand SRHR and adequate response to GBV

Eurasian Women's Network on AIDS (EWNA) is a regional network of women leaders living with and vulnerable to HIV who advocate for the rights of their peers in 12 countries in the EECA region. 29% of HIV-positive women in our region experienced sexual violence after being diagnosed with HIV, including 19.2% who associated sexual abuse with their HIV-positive status. We commit to advocate for women's rights related to universal access to healthcare services, including sexual and reproductive health, the elimination of violence against women and the right to be involved in political and public debate on which we depend on for our lives and health. EWNA will work so that the political declaration on the fight against HIV and AIDS becomes a reality for women living with HIV, women who use drugs and sex-workers in the EECA region. We commit to overcome HIV-related discrimination and violence compounded by the existence of laws that directly or indirectly criminalize women and limit their agency, right to bodily integrity, and to live a life free from violence or even torture. We demand that the response to these violations must be adequate, reported, properly investigated and prosecuted.
We challenge socially constructed gender roles, norms and stereotypes, that perpetuate stigma lead to further exclusion and oppression. We demand that violence and discrimination, stigma, and the social and economic exclusion of any person, community, and group must end.
We call on governments to prioritize and address the marginalization, vulnerabilities, and discrimination of women in all of our diversity by actively engaging civil society and communities affected in the response to violence and by adopting and implementing the Istanbul Convention.